The Biography of Hiei and Botan
by orphan mia
Summary: The title doesn't prepare you for this story at all. Written in Oral Biography form, listen to the Rekai Tentei and others talk about Hiei and Botan and their bold story of forgetting the rules. HB REVIEW! COMPLETE!
1. Hiei

The Biography of Hiei and Botan : Hiei

A/N: Sorry that I deleted Midnight, but this fic is replacing it. Chuck Palahniuk just came out with a new book called Rant, and as soon as I saw how he laid it out, I knew that you guys would love it. This is an oral biography of Hiei and Botan and the controversial events surrounding them. Please Read and Review!

I

**Yusuke Urameshi (High School Gym Teacher/Ex-Spirit Detective): **Hiei was a cool dude, man. When I first saw him, I thought he was a bastard, but first impressions are full of crap anyway. _(Takes out cigarette)_ Sure, he shouldn't have done what he did, but I'm not going to say that I _**hate **_the little guy.

He was on my team, the Rekai Tentei, for... I don't know how many years. Though we never came out and said it, he was a good friend of mine. _(Mumbling is heard) _Oh... oh I see.

No, Hiei was never unstable. What can I say, the shrimp had an iron clasp around his emotions.

I thought the only person that would ever come _close _to softening him was Yukina. _(Takes a drag of the cigarette)_

I guess I was wrong, huh?

**Kazuma Kuwabara (English Teacher/Ex-Rekai Tentei member): **The shrimp? You mean they haven't found him yet?

_(A long silence.) _Sure, I knew that the midget had a _**heart**_, but I couldn't have ever seen this coming. It's surprising that Hiei hasn't caught yet. I guess Hamster Legs can even evade Koenma's best bounty hunters.

**Kurama Shuiichi (Botanist/Ex-Rekai Tentei member/Former thief):** Hiei? Oh, yes, I remember. He's not what the media is playing him out to be. _(Chuckles softly.) _You must think I'm mad, but please try and understand that Hiei was my best friend. He still is my best friend.

_(A long pause.) _Hiei... he's never been one to go to others for help. I can count on my fingers how many times he has _**actually **_come to me for assistance. That's the Jaganshi Pride, though. What he's done... it wasn't pride that fueled it, but I would say that pride was the reason why he didn't come to me or anyone else for help.

_(Camera man whispers something.) _Oh, sorry. I guess I should get back on subject, eh?

I met Hiei when I was fifteen. I wasn't alarmed to see him, though I think he thought I would be intimidated of his Jagan Eye. Anyway, he recruited me to team up with him and Gouki to steal three Rekai artifacts.

After we were caught, Hiei and I were... ahem, _**asked **_to be a part of the Rekai Tentei. After that... it's just history. Hiei and I have been through fights, near death, and torment of the mind and soul.

I know that you're looking for some sort of mental defect or irrational vendetta that would explain his actions. I'll tell you right now that you won't come close to finding a plot like _that _for this tale. _(Brushes his hand carelessly through his hair.) _

People who are narrowminded never find the true answer.

**Koenma (Prince of Hell): **Hiei? We're close to finding him, I'm sure of it. I have my best men on the case. _(Papers rustle, Koenma continues to talk as he stamps.) _Don't loose faith in us, we'll get this entire situation under control and Hiei will soon be in the most guarded cell in Rekai Prison.

**Yukina (Hiei's Sister/Koorime): **Hiei... _(fights down tears) _he's great. The best brother a girl could ask for. _(Wipes her eyes with her sleeves, a few gems clinking to the floor.) _I keep on hearing Kazuma and Koenma talking... and Koenma is saying terrible things about him.

_(Stops to regain control of herself)_

I think Hiei was justified in what he did. If you arrest me, I don't care. I will always love him and stand by him. That's what family do for each other.

**Ayame (Koenma's assitant/Botan's close friend): **I don't really know much about Hiei Jaganshi. I've never _truly _met him in person except for that dreadful day a year ago. Then again, I only _**saw **_him.

From what Botan has told me, Hiei's the greatest warrior in the history of Makai. I'm sure she's exaggerating... but then again... he hasn't been caught yet...

But even if Botan, the top ferry girl of Rekai, thought he was a person to... respect, he _did_ break the Laws of Rekai.

_(Her hands fold on her lap as she looks directly into the camera)_

Hiei deserved what he got, and what he is going to get.

II

**Mukuro (Used to be one of the Three Rulers of Makai/Hiei's superior): **Hiei Jaganshi... now _there _was a good demon. He was quiet... but somehow he would always come through for you.

Not that it really matters now.

No, Hiei wasn't emotionally unstable or a closet maniac. Koenma is really blowing all of this out of proportion. The Prince really is a brat. Just like Hiei had always said.

The Koorime kept working with me until the very end. He told me what he planned to do the day he left for Rekai. He never came back and he never told me where he was going. But he did tell me why.

I'm telling you right now, you'll never find him.

Hiei Jaganshi is one of the greatest demons that I have ever met. No. He **is** the greatest demon that I've ever met. And you've got another thing coming if you think he'd be fooled by some idiot bounty hunters.

**Yusuke Urameshi: **Do I think he'll be found? _(Scratches his head.) _Never thought about it. Hiei seems like the type of guy who would always remain half demon, half legend. I still remember the chills I got when he had the upper hand on me when he first stole the Three Rekai Artifacts.

Do I want him to be found? Eh... um... it's hard to say. I've got a lot of questions for him, even some punches. I actually... kind of miss him and his sarcastic remarks.

Then again, he would be in Rekai Prison if he was found.

I'm going to tell you a story. When Kuwabara, Botan, and I got the video of Yukina being used in the under ground black market, we were all but happy to rescue her. Kuwabara... a little too happy if you catch my drift.

Hiei was still new to the team, and sure, I _trusted _him... but I didn't really know him all that well. I did know that he saved all our asses at the Gate of Betrayal, but it was his sister. He could have gotten emotional about the whole deal.

So we weren't supposed to tell him, but Koenma was being a baka when he thought Hiei didn't already know or wouldn't suspect anything. Poor planning on his part. I mean, half the time I could feel him watching us.

So we beat all the demons and all that junk. Everyone knows that. _(Stretches his arms, punching the air.) _When we got their and kicked a little ass, Tarukane tried to make off with Yukina, since all his fortune was lost. Big mistake.

Hiei came in the nick of time, killing all the other men in the room. He was about to kill Tarukane, but Yukina stopped him.

I never did get to see the look on his face, but something tells me that it would have surprised me. Yukina... she couldn't have known how much trouble Hiei would have been in if he actually had put that dirty bastard out of his misery. Her pure heart was reaching out to him, and all the rage he had built up for that moment must have vanished.

The thrill and adrenalin of being so close to his twin sister must have thrown him off a little too.

Is that the action of a demon who is insane? Sure, when we first met him, Hiei was off his rocker. That was when all he cared about was power.

Though the little guy might not admit it, he was friends with all of us. Even Kuwabara, Hiei respected the nigen. Kurama and him went way back, and even Botan warmed up to him. Sure, he pushed her away, with all those empty threats, but... even bakas like us can worm under the coldest of skin.

All in all, Hiei's not what you think he is.

**Kurama Shuiichi: **Yukina, now there was one of Hiei's soft spots. He cared so deeply for her, well, he still does. I'd bet anything on it.

During the case with Tarukane was the first time that Yusuke and Kuwabara had seen in Hiei's heart. After those few seconds of awe, Yusuke would tease him, making the fire demon grind his teeth. Old habits... they really do die hard.

We always thought that Yukina would be the only person Hiei could ever love, and his relationship with Yukina was strictly platonic. _(Sips his tea.) _I don't believe in love at first sight, so it's ludicrous to believe that Hiei was a hopeless romantic.

He probably hadn't even considered love.

**Kazuma Kuwabara: **The shrimp? Head over heels in love? _(Doubles over in laughter.) _Even I would have to stand up for him! Don't cramp his style with that gross picture! Ugh!

Please. Love isn't the right word.

For Hiei, this is something much more deeper than 'love'.

**Keiko Urameshi (College Professor/Wife to Yusuke Urameshi/Botan's Friend): **I've only seen Hiei. I saw him fight in the Dark Tournament... and... he stopped by when Yukina, Botan, and all the others were all over.

Yusuke assured me that he was a good guy. Not that he bothered me. I'm not saying that he was polite or anything, but he wasn't loud and obnoxious like some men I know. _(Smooths the wrinkles out of her jacket.) _

When Yusuke told me what he did, I didn't want to believe it. I also didn't want to believe that Yusuke had to be on the search team for the first two weeks. The former Rekai Tentei were assigned the task of finding him in two weeks.

Obviously they failed. It's been just under a year since Hiei vanished off the face of the Three Worlds.

**Enma (God): **Hiei Jaganshi? All I know is that because of that pesky demon, we've lost our top ferry girl and my son's been wasting his time trying to find him.

**George (Ogre/Koenma's friend): **Hiei, he was such a creepy guy. Botan would have nightmares about the time when he threatened her through telepathy. I'm so glad he never used that on me.

_(Wipes his nose.) _Oh, are you surprised that Botan was scared of him? Ah, she doesn't make things like fear very easy to see on her. _(Laughs sadly.) _She was great.

Botan's biggest fear is making people worry. She's great at hiding what _truly _scares her. The only reason I knew about her nightmares were because of the dark circles that developed under her eyes after the Dark Tournament.

I'm sure she got over those, though.

Hiei... I don't know what to say about him. He fought for us so many times. You know, I think he forgot that he was being forced to be on the Rekai Tentei after a while. _(A faint smile emerges.) _He came in to Koenma's office less and less. Finally, he stopped coming.

I never saw this coming. I always knew that Hiei _could _do just about anything. But I _never _imagined that he would be the most wanted demon in all of the Three Worlds.

**Koenma: **We're working very hard to find him. I assure you, any day we'll find the fire demon. _(His head is hidden behind a pile of papers.) _Look, I'm a bit busy, could we talk about Hiei later?

III

**Genkai (Yusuke's former mentor):** Eh? Hiei did you say? Oh... _him_. I remember the short demon now. _(Unfolds a Wanted poster with Hiei's face on it.) _I got this in the mail just a little while ago. Unfortunately, Yukina found it before I did.

_(Sighs and shakes her head.) _Poor girl was crying for hours, locked in her room.

Do I have a position? I sure do.

What Hiei did was great. The Law was stupid anyway. I hope they never find him. Laws on emotions are a bunch of crap anyway.

How would you feel if someone tried to tell you who you could and couldn't love?

IV

A/N: This is just a test of this writing style. Oh, I love it! Tell me, do you want more? Please, I beg you, review! This is such a great idea, and I see you guys loving it, so please support me! I love you!

-mia


	2. Botan

The Biography of Hiei and Botan : Botan

A/N: Thank you for all the reviews! I REALLY loved Rant, so I am going to the best that I possibly can to make the best twists and turns and to squeeze the tears out of you! Lol hahaha! Please, read and review!

I

**Yusuke Urameshi (demon): **Botan... the things I could tell you. She was great. I met her when I had first died and I thought being dead wouldn't be so bad. It was her that talked me into doing Koenma's little tests in order to get my body back.

She was like a sister to me. I think you'll hear that a lot from people on the team. Botan was like the universal best friend. She had her quirks, but if one of us were in trouble, she would do anything to bring us back.

_(Pulls out another cigarette.) _She always looked happy. It would be very hard to really know what was going on in her head. _(Chuckles a lightly.) _She _**has **_been around longer than all of us, so I guess she's mastered at putting on a good facade every now and again.

**Kurama (half fox, half nigen): **The top ferry girl? I was wondering when you were going to ask about her. She's just as much involved as Hiei was, only the media _loves _to involve demons. It's just easier, isn't it?

Anyway, Botan is a fine girl, greatest I'd ever met. One of the first, actually, to not swoon over me in the first few seconds of our meeting. In fact, she just shook my hand and smiled, saying, "Nice to meet you, the name's Botan."

I would have to say that she was kind of a cheerleader for the Rekai Tentei during the Dark Tournament. She'd even cheer for Hiei, knowing that he would threaten her later.

But was she always happy?

No. Definitely not.

It's impossible to be smiling for your entire life, even if that life will never end. Sure, I've seen her cry before, but that was in extreme cases. When you are _supposed _to cry. But for the little things... like nightmares or just weird feelings... I found it very hard to see it.

There was this one time... after the Dark Tournament... that I saw that she had dark circles under her eyes. I invited her over for tea and drugged her tea. I know, it was a bad thing to do, but you only live once.

After she was under, I asked her if something was bothering her. The ferry girl looked around, even though she was under my herbal spell. "Is he here?" Her voice was trembling. I sipped my own tea.

"Who, Botan?"

Her eyes were eyeing the windows and doors with terrified curiosity.

"H-H-Hiei."

Her stutter was terrible.

"No, he's not here. What happened, Botan. You can tell me. No one is here except me and you."

She smiled at that a little.

"Promise not to tell?"

"You have my word."

The top ferry girl of Rekai smiled again and sighed with relief.

"I-I... I-I keep on seeing Hiei... in my head." She was crying a little. "He told me at the Dark Tournament to not tell his sister that him and her were related... but I saw him... in my head... and he was s-s-so s-s-s-scary..." She had to stop, and she handled herself very well. She wiped the tears from her face, her back straight and her mouth closed. Like a queen. "His teeth were so long and sharp... and I keep on having nightmares."

"What did he say to you in this telepathic message?"

She hiccuped.

"He said he would enjoy torturing me... if I ever t-told..."

**Koenma (Son of God): **Botan was very sensitive when I first met her. She'd cry at least once a week, but after a few decades, she got so much better. The thing is, with sensitive spirits, they never lose that sensitivity. If they wear their hearts on their sleeves, the only difference now is that they heart just looks like the rest of the shirt. It's still there.

Sure, Botan _seemed _as if she were normal, but she wasn't. If something made her angry, sad, or scared, she would do her very best not to show it then. Or... not show it completely.

I don't know how or what she would do if she was being plagued by too many emotions. Sometimes I really don't want to know.

**Kurama: **"Did he keep on sending you messages?"

"N-no... b-b-but I can s-still remember him... laughing... his claws... so long..." She wiped more hot tears off of her face. "I just... I just don't want him to try to kill me..."

I could see that she had been thinking about this for long time. So I told her. I had no choice.

"Botan... I'm going to tell you a secret, and I need you to swear that you won't tell, even though when you come out of this you will only have the feeling, not the fact."

"I'll keep the secret..."

I smiled reassuringly, even though she really couldn't see me.

"Hiei can't kill women." She blinked, and she was slowly beginning to grin. "It's against his code. He refuses to kill females."

Botan bounced in her chair.

"Really?"

"Really."

II

**Genkai (nigen): **Botan, eh? I remember her. A bit annoyingly happy sometimes? Yeah, that's the one.

She's a good egg. She used to visit Yukina and I a lot. She actually taught me a lot of new dishes to cook and little tricks on how to keep the flowers happy. She was a bundle of joy, as much as I loathe that saying.

Yukina seemed to like her too. Botan would calm down when she hung out with the ice maiden. I've seen them sit in the trees or just walk in the forest for _hours _one end. Just talking.

**George (ogre): **This one time, Botan came to work, smiling and joking about as usual, but then she made this really, _really _dark joke. I asked her about it later, and she giggled and said that it was just something she picked up from a friend.

**Kurama: **I used a napkin to clean up her face and then I gave her the 'antidote' if you will. Within seconds she was back and happy as ever. She sipped her tea, which I replaced with the actual tea that I was drinking.

After that little lunch with me, the dark circles under her eyes went away.

After that small chat... Botan began to lightly poke fun at Hiei.

**Enma (God): **Botan, I remember when she first came to Rekai. She had died at such a young age, and she was so _pure_! We asked her if she would like to ferry souls, and she accepted our offer.

My son and her grew close, best friends. It was so nice to see Koenma finally befriend someone. He had always been a bit... nasally obnoxious. But she was able to see past that.

So, naturally, I awarded her the highest and most prestigious gift in all of Rekai.

**Koenma: **Another thing that most people don't know about Botan is that she was very self conscious about her body. You'd think she wouldn't be, right? She was always full of surprises.

Her worst nightmare used to be wearing a shirt with short sleeves or a dress that ended above her knees.

But now that I think back... in some of the last days I ever saw her... Botan was wearing skirts and short dresses. Not too much skin was revealed... but just the right amount.

**Ayame (Rekai Spirit): **Some of the girls were jealous of her legs. _(Coughs.) _I was one of them.

**Kuwabara (nigen): **Her body? Botan was hot, and I'm not just being nice. She was hiding a lot under her sweatshirts and jeans, I'm sure. I know that Yusuke asked what her bra size was once... but he never got an answer.

I remember now... that was how Hiei lost his soul.

**George: **There really wasn't any sign of things to come. Sure, history repeats, but this is a first as far as I know... but I'm no expert. Botan was so dedicated... and after she became the top ferry girl in all of Rekai... she was... she was bound to us forever.

Would I have done what she did?

Hell no.

I saw how Enma and Koenma reacted. I saw the bounty hunters and Wanted posters fly up in Rekai, Makai, and even Ningenkai. It was chaos.

And still... they were never found.

Sometimes I'll hear people talking about her. I hear them ask, "Do you think she's dead?"

No.

That's impossible.

**Genkai: **_(Laughs darkly.) _Rekai is caught between a rock and a hard place. To say the _**least**_.

III

**Mukuro (demon, once one of the Three Rulers of Makai): **Botan? Hm... _Oh! _Her! I remember meeting her.

She had a message to deliver Hiei back when he was still my Second in Command. That blue hair and soft pink kimono stuck out like a sore thumb in my fortress.

And she shook my hand and politely introduced myself like we were just two normal people. Now, I know that you don't want a racism lesson, but I'm only telling the truth.

People of Rekai, and most nigens, look down on demons. Fear us. Think that we are primal and barbaric.

So when she shook my hand and started asking what kind of foods I liked and if I had ever seen certain movies... well, at first I thought she was insane, but then I realized something. Botan was tolerant. She was all loving.

Hiei was pale when he saw us talking. I could see him. But then I laughed at some joke she had made about Koenma.

That was when my Second in Command relaxed.

**Keiko (mate of Yusuke Urameshi, nigen): **Botan was the Maid of Honor at my wedding. She really is a guardian angel.

This is why I think we should just let her go. If she wanted to leave, then let her leave. Botan wouldn't do _**anything **_to hurt anybody! Human, demon, or spirit!

**Enma: **It's not Botan that we're worried about. It's Hiei.

**Rekai History Expert (Spirit):** In the Seven Days of the Two Worlds creations, Enma found that there were genetic defects in nigens and their offspring. Although the rumors were brushed aside, it was apparent that mating between nigens and spirits created... odd children.

Their skin would be darker, and much more course than our soft flesh. Most of the times, even the parents would reject their young, saying that they were abominations. And then there were the children who _appeared _to be normal.

Their skin was just as soft... but at an early age they would show signs of being... different. They would have a morbid fascination with death and blood of others. It depended on the genetics in question that would make the offspring lash out at the parents.

These were also cast aside in the nigen and Rekai society.

**Ayame: **Demons always stuck me as... scary. I'm not being racist! I'm not! It's just... they're always so dirty and cruel... how could you not have had doubts about them?

**George: **Botan was never really afraid of a stereotype of anyone. It must come from working with all sorts of souls. Young, old, black, Hispanic, Japanese, American, European... everything. Combined with her heart, you've got one tolerant soul on your hands.

**Rekai History Expert: **The nigens and Rekai spirits thought that the children just died after they were abandoned in the woods or crowded streets. No one thought that they would be able to thrive. They were too young... but... there were signs.

Dogs, cats, and rabbits started becoming sparse. The shadows at night became more and more intimidating.

It was when the small nigen children went missing that Rekai started to set up traps.

And that was when the first demon was caught.

The demon didn't have a name, but on his forehead was a triangle composed of three number sixs'. Hence the forbidden number of 666 in the nigen culture.

The demon had blood on his lips, his eyes dark and his body grotesque from birth, the environment, and what looked to be claw marks. As the Rekai officers stared at the demon, watching his eyes flicker about... they knew that there were more.

Hunters went out. The task was to catch them and leave them alive, but most of them just killed them. Demons began to fear Rekai, and that was when Rekai was back in control.

Enma used his divine power to create a new world. A world where all the rejected spawn of the nigens and Rekai spirits would be able to thrive away from the eyes of the other Two Worlds.

And Makai was born.

**Yusuke: **Racism? Never knew about it... but then again, not a lot of the nigens I work with know that I'm a demon.

**Kuwabara: **Demons? They really aren't so different from humans. We both bleed, we both feel pain, and we both can love.

And the both of us can die.

**Kurama: **Demons were sparse in the beginning. Rekai had killed most of them off, and whenever a nigen would come across one, well, it was either them or the demon.

There was a boom of sex. Not so much mating, but lots of offspring. Species developed. Clans. Territories. Rulers, and with rulers, wars. Makai was a barren wasteland. It is Hell, so to speak.

Why do you think demons fight so hard to get back to Ningenkai?

How would you feel if you were in Hell, but you were born there? How would you feel if you were in Hell, and there was no way out?

**Yukina (Koorime, demon): **Although you couldn't tell, my brother became very indebted to Botan. She made arrangements with Koenma so that I could stay with Genkai in Ningenkai. I didn't want to go back to the floating Island of the Koorime, and I didn't want to live in the real Makai.

Botan really did save my life.

**Kurama: **When I first met Botan, she never asked me what Makai was like, which was usually a first for most Rekai people. I never knew why until we all had to go into Makai. I saw her eyes as she gazed over the dry, barren land.

She already knew what Makai was like.

And she pitied all the demons that had to endure it.

**Enma: **I don't see what all the fuss is about. We gave those demons a World! They should be kissing all of Rekai's feet.

**Rekai History Expert: **Demons were often trying to break out. They hated it in Makai. It was only natural, after seeing the green foliage and blue skies of Ningenkai. After smelling the cool grass and the salt in the oceans. After feeling the smooth rock and the comfortable air. Demons were seen as greedy, wanting to be in a World that wasn't theirs.

It was only a matter of time before a demon did something really stupid.

It was only a matter of time before the entire race of demons created the terrible aura that flowed around them.

What am I getting at?

I'm talking about the Christmas Massacre.

IV

A/N: Sorry, but I had to leave it there! I hope that you liked it! Please review! Please, if you thought it was too fast, too slow, or just right, leave a review! I'd love to know how you thought of this cool style!

-mia


	3. The Real Santa Claus

The Biography of Hiei and Botan : The Real Santa Claus

A/N: Thank you for all the reviews! I'm glad that all of you like this writing style. It's so addicting! So, I reread Rant and... wow... this fic has so much potential. Read and Review!

I

**Kurama (Demon/Kitsune): **One of the memories that comes to mind when I think about this whole situation and the Christmas Massacre is a Christmas Eve we had a few years ago. The former Rekai Tentei all gathered at Genkai's Temple, and we just had a good time.

Hiei came because of his sister. So did Kuwabara. Botan came to see everyone else. Same for Yusuke and I.

So as we were all sitting around, Hiei turns to me and says:

"Why do nigens celebrate this day? Shouldn't they mourn it?"

I pondered the matter, but then slowly shook my head.

"No. If Rekai intended for them to left in the dark, then blind they will be."

We both saw Botan coming over. She had overhead us, and she was intrigued.

"Why would the nigens mourn Christmas, Hiei?"

The Koorime stared incredulously at the ferry girl. I too was a bit taken aback. She was the top ferry girl of Rekai... and she didn't know about the Christmas Massacre? The event must swept away more quickly then I had thought.

"Hn. Baka onna." At first I thought he was going to tell her to go away. Like I said, tonight was the night for surprises. "If you want to know... you're going to have to come with me."

He held out his hand. It was a mix between an invitation and a doomed sentence.

**Rekai History Expert (Spirit):** There was a time when Rekai and Makai just existed without hatred among them. No demons had made it past the barrier... and Ningenkai had forgotten about demons entirely.

It was the Queen of the Northen Territory that was the first demon that wanted to make a peaceful contact with the nigens. She was known for her very kind nature, despite being mated to the brutal warrior.

So, on her own accord, the Queen broke through the barrier and made her way into Ningenkai.

**Yukina (Koorime): **It's not surprising that Hiei knew his history. Why do you think Africans know a lot about slavery? Or the Jewish remembering World War II? When something devastating happens to your race, whether you were alive or not... wouldn't you want to know all about it?

**Kurama: **I could see her eyes narrow _very _slightly. She was weighing out the possibilities. The dangers. The curious itch... was it really worth it? When Botan took his hand, and she made sure to do it very gently, I thought I was dreaming.

Then again, I could have been.

The two of them vanished not a second after her skin brushed against his.

**Rekai Spirit Expert: **The Queen happened to arrive in London on December twenty fourth. She watched as the nigens celebrated their Christmas, and as they all went to bed, the Queen came up with a plan.

She was going to leave gifts to all the children of Ningenkai. Then, when they were older, a compromise could come between Makai and Ningenkai.

That night, the Queen used her demonic energy to summon little toys. Stuffed playthings of demons that she had seen. Jewelry that royalty would wear in Makai.

That night, as she went back to Makai and the children of Ningenkai began to wake up, Santa Claus was born.

**Yusuke Urameshi (Demon): **Christmas Massacre? Never heard of it.

**Yukina: **The only reason I know what it is was because Hiei told me. He said that... I should know about our race's past. And I listened.

**Kurama: **The party was so warm and loving that no one noticed their absence except me. They were gone for about a half an hour. Probably more. Just when I began to feel the panic set in, Hiei and Botan reappeared in front of me.

Nothing had changed. Hiei was still emotionless. Botan was still bubbly.

However, her eyes were cast downwards. She muttered a breathy 'Thank you' to Hiei before quickly excusing herself to help Yukina cook. Hiei and I watched her leave, and I was the one to break the silence first.

"What did tell her?"

I remember how he didn't smirk. He just stared after her before tearing his eyes away.

"I just told her the truth." He slowly put his hands in his pockets. "She took it well."

He didn't have the snide condescending tone that he usually wielded when talking about or to the ferry girl. I didn't respond. I just watched as my best friend's entire stance was relaxed. And for the _**shortest **_of moments... I thought he looked proud.

**Kuwabara (Nigen): **I remember that Christmas party. I woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom... but I got scared.

I thought I saw a ghost in the hall. It was crying.

**Rekai History Expert: **The first year it happened, every child in the world was overwhelmed with joy and astonishment. The parents watched as the children played with mysterious dolls and put on jewelry made out of what looked like wood.

The Queen told her husband, the King, and he reluctantly let her continue with the plan. He was one of the few demons left that remembered what Ningenkai looked like. He was one of the _original _spawn of nigen and spirit.

So, the next year, the Queen went back.

And the year after that, and the year after that.

But it only took one single nigen family to end it. One question. One father who stayed up late. One man who just couldn't stop asking questions.

That night, the man watched as the Queen materialized into the house. Now, when children saw this being, they thought it was a magical elf or ogre. Nigen children are pure.

Not men.

That night, the man saw a grotesque beast performing an incantation.

He took a kitchen knife off of the wall and shouted. The Queen turned and tried to calmly explain to the nigen that she was just delivering presents. The man would not listen. The beast was from Hell!

The man advanced on the Queen, knife in hand and murder in his eyes.

**Kurama: **Later that night, actually, in the middle of the night, I woke up. A scent in the air told me something was wrong. I opened my eyes and listened.

I heard the creaks and moans that a quiet house would make. I sat up and saw Hiei sleeping, his back against the wall. The detective was sleeping next to Keiko. Kuwabara was within four feet of Yukina.

Botan... her place was empty.

I stood, moving silently, and walked to the only hallway that connected to the room. I heard soft sobs, and I peered around the corner.

Sitting on the ground was Botan.

Her hair was down and she was in her white nightgown. Her knees were brought up to her chest and she was crying into her hands. I saw the tears fall from between her fingers. She wheezed. She hiccuped.

When I strained my ears... I could hear faint words. Desperate words. Hopeless words.

"_Why... why...?" _

The reason why I was scared for Botan when Hiei told her about the Christmas Massacre was simple.

That story is equivalent to what the Chapter Black video does to humans and demons. That story will make you loathe your own kind if you are nigen or spirit.

And Botan is both.

**Rekai History Expert: **The Queen could not defend herself. She had the power to blow the weak nigen away, but a death on her hands would only make the situation worse between Rekai and Makai.

It would reverse all the progress that she had made.

She pleaded with the man. She pleaded with him. Her legendary last words were, "Please, sir, for your daughter."

Those words were her last. The man, the father, lost it and killed her. He kept on calling her 'Beast' and 'Abomination'. He kept slicing. He just kept on slicing until the Queen no longer moved.

It's considered ironic to many that the cause of the Christmas Massacre was a priest.

**Koenma (Son of God): **Botan came to me and she was furious. It wasn't as apparent as the more dramatic people I know. There were no tears, no clenched fists, and definitely no expletives spit on my face.

In fact, she was very calm. She just came up and bowed and tried to casually ask a question. But a question about the Christmas Massacre is _**never **_casual.

"Koenma, sir? I was wondering about... the Christmas Massacre."

My eyes had widened.

"What about it?"

She looked down at her hands, but she wasn't wringing them. That was the first sign of rage. Then there was her eyes. No water in them. Just stone.

"Did... did the man who killed the Queen of the Northern Territory ever get punished?"

I raised my eyebrows.

"What for?" Her eyes sparked. "That priest was _**assaulted **_by that demon." She said nothing. She stared at me with an incredulous look on her face. Then she quickly looked downward again. But she still didn't tremble. "Why? Who was talking to you about the Christmas Massacre?"

She was already leaving my office. She didn't even turn around to tell me. I just caught the last bit of her response.

"_... no one..."_

II

**Genkai (Nigen): **The morning after that particular Christmas Party, Botan was pale. I told her that she should get some rest, but she grinned broadly and told me that it was nothing. That morning she was a bit too loud, if you know what I mean.

**Rekai History Expert: **When a demon's mate dies, the remaining mate will feel a terrible pain. It has said to be more agonizing then getting tortured by professionals.

When the Queen died, the King felt it. His roars shook all of Makai. That Christmas, he began a rally. He had all of Makai unite. He had a source tell him how his beloved mate had died, and he spoke of the nigen's brutality and barbaric nature. He called them savages. Scum of the earth.

With a stronger following than Hitler, the King and more than half of the demons of Rekai began to attack the barrier.

It would get weaker and weaker. It would only be a matter of time before it broke.

**Kurama: **When Botan was laughing and joking around with Yukina, I opened my mind and sent a thought to Hiei.

_**She's... she's sad, Hiei. She's in pain.**_

The fire demon stared at the ferry girl.

_**The baka ferry onna is laughing her annoying mouth off. She seems fine to me. **_

I was this close to hitting him.

_**You're not that stupid, Hiei. I saw her crying last night. **_

The pause was so long I thought that he had shut me out.

_**Hn. **_His eyes were on the ground now. _**She'll get over it. All spirits and nigens have. **_

**Rekai History Expert: **Some say it was a coincidence that it took exactly a year to get the barrier wide enough for the King and his army to go through. Other's say it was Fate.

It was Christmas Eve, early Christmas when the King stormed out into Ningenkai. He didn't know where he was. He had no idea where his mate's killer was.

The death of his beloved had jarred his mind, and now, to him, every human was lower than dirt. They were mistakes. Tainting the planet.

They stormed a village. They just went wild and killed every body. All the children that were waiting with excited smiles in their sleep died. Some were eaten. Others were just caught up in the pillaging.

They destroyed a total of five towns before Rekai stepped in.

Enma himself was at the front lines. He rose his hand and with a blinding flash, the King and his entire Army had died.

All that was left behind were the bodies of the fallen nigens.

A total of six hundred nigens died that day.

The number of demons exterminated that Christmas was three thousand.

**Ayame (Spirit): **Koenma got angry at Botan for walking out of his office one day without saying goodbye or responding politely to his question.

The next few days, Botan was very quiet.

I have no idea what happened to her.

Christmas Massacre?

Why would she care about some demons that went berserk? Enma killed them all.

**Enma (God): **What's done is done. The Queen should not have been in Ningenkai in the first place.

**Rekai History Expert: **Although the classified records remain unaltered, two different stories circle around Makai, Ningenkai, and Rekai.

In Rekai and to a few nigens, the Christmas Massacre was when the bloodthirsty demons broke through the barrier and killed innocent women and children. When they drank the blood of the innocent and performed terrible, savage acts of destruction.

In Makai, the Christmas Massacre was lead by one of the greatest Kings. He fought for love, and his revenge was well deserved. For all the sweat and love that his mate had tried so hard to connect... and her failure. Her murder.

In Makai, the story is that the Massacre was neat. Children were not tortured. Neither were women.

It was just a lover's revenge.

**Kurama: **After that, Hiei started coming over less and less.

**Ayame: **After that, Botan left Rekai for her lunch breaks.

III

**Rekai History Expert: **After the Christmas Massacre, demons were never to be trusted, seen, or be considered civilized ever again.

IV

A/N: **IMPORTANT! READ OR BE SQUARE! **Sorry guys, but I have to leave it off there. Okay, warning, I'm leaving for Europe on June 25th and coming back on July 13th. That is why I wont be updating this story for a while, but trust me, I will when I get back! So please, Review! I want to know if you liked the history and the brief Hiei and Botan interaction!

-mia


	4. Nightmares

The Biography of Hiei and Botan : Nightmares

A/N: Thank you, those of you who did review. I only got five reviews for Chapter Three, so please, if you read just drop a little review. I don't care if it's half of a word long, just as long as I know that you want me to continue. Thank you. Please Read and Review!

I

**Notes from Botan's Journal (Spirit): **My nightmares are getting worse. I can hardly sleep anymore. They started after Hiei told me all about the Christmas Massacre.

How could Rekai do that?

Why... why would nigens be so... judgmental?

I thought... I thought we were kind and fair.

I guess I thought wrong.

I keep on dreaming about getting killed by demons that I have never seen before... but every single time I wake up, I feel like I know him.

Hiei... Hiei might be able to help me... but I'm afraid to ask him. What if he thinks I'm stupid? Well, this whole thing _**is **_stupid. It's stupid. It really is.

But what if it's something more?

What if it's not just a dream?

Maybe there is a reason that it feels so real.

**Kurama (kitsune): **Hiei has come to me exactly seven times for help. The one time he came to me, I remember clearly. It was a rainy April Thursday afternoon and I making tea when I heard hard knocking on my door.

I got up and walked down the dark hallway to the door, and hesitated before opening it. When the door swung inward, I blinked at the image before me, wondering if it was a mirage or not.

Hiei was soaking wet, his hair and clothes clinging to his body. His eyes were not narrowed or wide, but I could see the fear in them.

In his arms was an unconscious Botan.

He walked past me and when I finally snapped to my senses, I hurried into my kitchen. Hiei had laid out the ferry girl on the table, his eyes locked onto her face as a deep frown began to settle onto his face.

"Fox. I need your help."

Those words are very rare. 'I need your help' does not come often from Hiei. In fact, I might have been the _**only **_person he has ever said it to. My eyes were on Botan as I opened my mouth.

"What happened?"

Hiei took off his cloak, a puddle growing at his feet. He stepped towards the table, and he pointed with a clawed finger like a teacher would point to a specimen.

"She was talking to me. But she wasn't all there." He lightly touched the dark rings under her eyes. "These weren't here the last time." He then moved to her cheeks. "See this, they are pale with red points in the middle." I saw that his hand was shaking. It couldn't have been from the cold. Hiei doesn't get cold. "She just... fainted. Out of nowhere."

His voice was so flat. Those blood red eyes of his never left her face.

"What do you want me to do about it?"

That got his eyes to break away from Botan. His piercing gaze almost sent a chill down my spine.

"_**Fix her**_."

I might have chuckled at his wording, but I saw the concern in his eyes. It made me anxious for Botan, wondering if she really was alright.

"Okay, well, let's see..."

**Koenma (Son of God): **I forced Botan to take a vacation. Weird, I know. You should have seen her, though. The dark rings under her eyes. She could barely stay awake at work. Cup after cup of coffee... and I had seen her with caffeine patches on her arm.

It wasn't healthy. She had to get some rest. So I told her to come back when she was fully rested.

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **Today is the day. I have to do it. Koenma has even made me go on temporary leave. It has to stop now.

I haven't slept in over two weeks. I can't. If I do... I might not wake up. I feel like something dark is creeping up behind me whenever I fall asleep. It's getting closer every single time.

So I tracked Hiei down. I found him training, and he never stopped. Never looked at me.

"What do you want, baka onna?"

It was raining, and I was cold. I sneezed as I hugged myself, trying to keep warm.

"H-Hiei... I need you to do me a f-f-favor."

He still kept on training.

"Favor? For a nigen? Don't make me laugh."

I was blinking slowly, and I couldn't feel anything anymore. A part of me must have given up because the next thing I know, I'm falling. My eyes just rolled up and I made this weird choking noise.

I never hit the ground.

I felt Hiei's arms around me. He was shaking me, calling out 'onna' and 'baka, wake up'. I only managed to say a few words.

"Don't... don't let me... sleep..."

He kept on shaking me, saying my name this time. I blacked out, his voice still in my ears as I drifted off to my worst nightmares.

**Kurama: **I brushed her bangs out of her eyes. My hands pressed themselves to her cheek.

"She has a fever." Hiei watched me work. I pulled out a paste. I opened her kimono up, just so a good portion of her chest was visible. I saw Hiei tense out of the corner of my eye. I pressed an ear to hear her breathing. "Her lungs are beginning to fill with fluid. Nothing too serious, but just in case."

I spread the paste out on her chest. Instantly I could hear the ease in her lungs. I had a slight relieved smile on my face.

"Fox... what happened?"

I almost rolled my eyes.

"I should be asking you."

Hiei glared, crossing his arms.

"That's not what I meant, baka kitsune!" There was a long pause as I pressed my lips to her forehead, testing how hot she was. Pretty damn high. "I just wanted to know if it was... my fault."

I shrugged as I put a cold, wet cloth to her forehead. I pulled out a small bottle, and added it to the newly made tea. I pinched her cheeks in between my fingers so her lips would part. I poured a little bit of the hot liquid down her throat.

"Ask her."

Hiei looked away as I pulled her kimono back up, tucking it back in.

"Hn."

**Rekai History Expert (spirit): **All the souls of the nigens killed were immediately destroyed. If any soul, no matter how slim the chance, were able to recall its past, the information would prove to be chaotic.

As far as the records show, no soul remains.

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **I saw the demon again. I was crying, in my dream, but I said nothing as he approached me. I only squeezed my eyes shut as he drew his sword.

When I snapped back to consciousness, I saw Kurama hovering over me, his red hair falling into my face. His green eyes were puzzled as I jolted up, our foreheads colliding.

He backed up, rubbing his cranium. My eyes squeezed shut, blocking out the tears. But as soon as I fell into darkness, I could feel sleep tugging at me. My eyes snapped open as I panted. I could feel my stomach twist and gurgle. I prayed that I wouldn't throw up.

That was when I heard an unmistakable tenor voice.

"Onna." My eyes, glassy and hot, turned to Hiei Jaganshi. "What happened to you?" I vaguely heard Kurama excuse himself from the room. My hand was pressed on my pounding heart, my mouth open. I had to swallow saliva constantly. "Was it... because of me?"

**Enma (God): **The spirits of the Christmas Massacre would not have been able to survive after such a terrible past experience. It had nothing to do with conspiracy or propaganda. It was for the safety of the souls themselves and everything around them.

Nothing more.

**Kurama:** I hung just outside of the kitchen. I listened to their voices. Their whispers started out low, but then grew to a frantic beat. Botan started to cry. I could smell it in the air. I only could hear one sentence clearly, and it was Botan's voice.

"_**No one else can help me. Please, I'm begging you."**_

II

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **I shook my head. It wasn't Hiei's fault. But I needed to know why I was having these nightmares. My hands shook as I clasped them together, my voice a hoarse whisper.

"_Please help me. I have these... terrible nightmares... only you can find out why!"_

Hiei glared at me.

"_I'm not some toy you can go and cry to. They're just idiotic nightmares. Get over them yourself."_

I lost it and began to sob. If he couldn't do this one favor for me, then I knew I was going to lose my mind.

"_**It's **_**not **_**just an ordinary nightmare!**__" _My eyes were tightly shut, my face heating up. _"When I wake up, the dream is more real then the world I end up in! I feel like when I sleep I'm really awake. When I'm awake, it's all just a dream to me!"_

Hiei froze. I opened my eyes to him edging closer to me. Those blood red eyes. I'll never forget them.

"Hn. Fine, baka onna." His hands swiftly untied his headband. My eyes couldn't help focusing on his Jagan Eye. "Close your eyes." I obeyed and was startled when I felt his hands on the sides of my face. "Try not to think too much, baka."

**Ayame (spirit): **When I first met Botan, the first thing that threw me off were her eyes.

Not their color. Not their shape or size.

But their emotion.

I shook her hand and introduced myself. I expected, from her eyes, to meet a very quiet and misunderstood ferry girl. Instead, she grinned and flushed with the excitement and joy of meeting someone new. It was completely contradictory to her eyes, which are the main way to look into a spirits' soul.

She had the saddest eyes I had ever seen.

They were curved slightly downwards. My mother called them mourner's eyes.

**Kurama:** I peeked around the corner when their voices ceased. My eyes only found them closer. Botan's eyes were closed. Hiei's Jagan Eye was glowing and from the looks of it... he was _**touching **_the ferry girl. I hadn't seen a sight like this since... since... I can't think of anything.

**Notes from Botan's Journal:** I was thrown into a dark abyss, and somehow, I could tell that I was unconscious. I suddenly felt a cold chill wash over my entire body. I thought I heard Hiei's voice say, '_Onna_', but I was probably mistaken.

I fell and when my eyes finally regained their vision I saw a little girl run past me. Her breathing was very labored. It sounded like she was crying. I was going to follow her, but Hiei appeared at my side, his eyes cold as he shook his head slowly.

We entered the room she had been in, and we both went to a window. Outside was pure chaos.

Villagers were screaming, running out of their homes. Dark shadows pounced on them swiftly, silencing them. My eyes were redirected as Hiei squeezed my wrist and pointed. A man and woman were escaping. Whenever a shadow could from for them, the man would hold something up, and a bright light would knock the shadow back.

Hiei leaned closer to me.

"That's the work of a priest."

**Genkai (nigen): **Sad eyes? Yes, I noticed it in Botan. Some people just have them, so I didn't think anything of it.

**Kurama: **I went into the kitchen. The two were too deeply lost to have noticed me. They were so still, and that was when I realized that Hiei was out cold, yet he was still standing. Then I saw his Jagan Eye.

Oh.

He was reading her mind. His hands were at her temples, and he had sent her into the recesses of her own mind. Then Hiei must have gone into a deep level of REM himself. I shivered as I saw his eyes moving under his eyelids, his lips twisting into a frown.

_What could possibly be in Botan's mind that would intrigue you, Hiei?_

**Notes from Botan's Journal:** Hiei was frowning as he dragged me out of the room by my wrist. Me moved quickly down the hall where the little girl was.

I could only she a soft shadow of her. She was struggling to get a cross off of the wall. A Christmas Tree was next to her, sparkling in all of its glory. She hiccuped and wheezed out soft, desperate words.

"_T-They l-l-left me..."_

Hiei's eyes narrowed. We both understood in a flash. The man and woman who had been running had been her mother and father. They had left their daughter in order to save their own souls.

Even I couldn't help the flood of loathing that seeped through my veins. That was when a crash was heard behind us. I whirled around to see a party of demons. My eyes widened and my blood turned to ice as I recognized them.

_They were the demons from my nightmares..._

My eyes began to roll back into my skull and my knees grew shaky, but harsh hands were on my shoulders in an instant, squeezing them painfully.

"Stay with me onna, we aren't done yet."

I forced my eyes to open, shrieking when the demons ran at me, passing right through me like I was a ghost. I was able to turn and I saw them corner the little girl. Her back was still to us, and I saw Hiei slowly tensing. He looked... excited and yet dreadful at the same time.

"_**Little girl, we will spare you if you give us the whereabouts of your Father."**_

The girl's shoulders flinched as she heard the dark and scary voice of the demon who was dressed in noble armor. His voice wasn't comforting in any way. It dripped with the thirst for blood.

She turned slowly. For many moments I couldn't breathe.

The little girl, staring at the demon, had blue hair and pink eyes.

The little girl... was me.

**Koenma: **We found Botan's spirit out of nowhere really. I remember Dad and I were just doing our work as usual, and one of our assistants came in. He was smiling when he told me that he had just gotten his hands on the purest soul he had ever witnessed.

I got out of my seat, not able to believe it. A soul... more pure than _me_? Not likely.

However, when he showed me Botan, who gazed around with curious eyes, I saw it. She was... as pure as a nigen soul could be. She hadn't sinned... at all. It was incredible. My Father and I leaped on the opportunity, and that was the day that I enlightened Botan to everything. She learned how to ferry soul, and we became friends in minutes.

She was the perfect soul.

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **I... the other me... didn't say anything as the head demon took a menacing step towards her. She closed her eyes and squeezed the cross in her little hands. I wanted to tell her to give away her parents. To tell her that they were cowards.

Her lips remained tightly shut. Her... I mean, my... pink eyes opened and were full of fear and dejection. The demon pleaded with her, and for the first time, I heard deep sorrow in his voice. A stabbing pain deep inside that he couldn't get rid of.

"_**Please... your Father killed my only love." **_The little me sobbed and let out a shrill wail. _**"Just tell me where he is, lass, and I swear, I will let you live."**_

I watched myself back up against the wall. Her... I mean my... little hands were trembling and the cross fell out of it. My mouth was open, and I couldn't have been older than eight years old.

"_I-I... I-I..." _The demons were on their toes. They wanted to know where the priest who killed the Queen was. I watched myself break into hysterics. It sent chills down my spine. _"T-They l-l-left m-m-me." _

The King's eyes were wide. I saw his arms flex in rage. I watched myself look up, saliva dripping out of my mouth and pink eyes red with tears. The King's eyes traveled to my hands, which were bleeding from the sharp edges of the cross.

"_**Little girl, if you are lying–"**_

"_WHY__DIDN'T THEY LOVE__**ME**__?" _I grabbed Hiei's hand out of pure shock. My little voice... so resentful and hurt. Her hands pressed themselves to her eyes as she convulsed with the pure loss of her Mother and Father. _"I-I was g-g-good... I was a g-g-g-g-good little g-girl..."_

I looked away, my eyes stinging.

"_**Lass–"**_

"_Wasn't that good enough?" _She looked up to the demons. _"I... did I do something... to make them mad?" _

Hiei and I watched as the King kneeled down before me, placing a massive and clawed hand on my trembling shoulder.

"_**Little lass, don't you ever say that."**_

I knew that I heard him. My eyes still darted around the room, something darker than fear in them. I felt Hiei stiffen. It was self-loathing. A hatred so dark and so deep... it was most likely masochistic. That was when I saw the blood on my little face... from the cuts on my hands.

"_I... There is nothing left." _My small fists were clenched and she looked up into the King's eyes, purity still in my eyes even as darkness consumed me. _"Kill me... please..."_

"_**What? No, lass, I cant–"**_

"_They l-l-left m-me..." _My pink eyes were so cut off from the world... I couldn't have heard the screams outside. Or the sound of flames crackling the villagers house. _"They didn't... they didn't love me..."_

Hiei's hand tightened around mine.

The King stood up from the floor. His men were deathly silent. He pulled out his sword. My lungs froze. The smaller me closed her eyes, tears falling down her bloodstained face. My pink lips opened and she began to sing.

"_Come to me children and follow my way..." _It's melody... chilling and familiar. The King gripped his sword with both hands. _"With all my power, I'll show you the way..." _Tears were running down his face. _"Into the world of darkness magic..."_

He swung his sword, and my eyes wouldn't close as I saw my own, little head, fly off, my body collapsing into a heap on the floor, landing at the base of the Christmas Tree.

**Kurama: **I saw Hiei jerk awake. He stepped backwards so quickly that he tripped and fell. Botan woke up, crying. She wasn't sobbing, but her hands were shaking as she pushed her hair back.

Hiei, still on the ground, was shaking badly. He tried to make it stop, crushing his hands under his knees, but his entire body fell to it.

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **I came to, my lungs burning and tears falling from my eyes. I was pale and feeling sick to my stomach. Witnessing yourself die... is never a pleasant experience.

I saw Hiei on the ground. He was shivering and when he finally looked at me, I saw disbelief in his crimson eyes. He wasn't afraid of me... it was more like he was afraid _for _me.

"Onna..." His hands trembled. "No wonder... your eyes... are so sad."

III

A/N: I had to leave it off there. Now... PLEASE... if you read it, just tell me if you liked it or not! Please! I really want to know what other people think of this writing style and the plot. Do you like it? Is it too dark, too scary, too fast, or too slow? Or do you like it just the way it is? Please, if even the smallest thing is sticking out to you, just tell me. Please, review.

P.s. The song the younger Botan was singing was D.H.T's Magic Melody. I was listening to it while I wrote this chapter, but the song itself will prove to have meaning to it later on.

P.s.s. Europe is amazing!


	5. Mourner's Eyes

The Biography of Hiei and Botan : Mourner's Eyes

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! Keep on leaving them. I just got my wisdom teeth out, so this might take longer than usual. I can only eat soft food, like eggs, yogurt, and pudding. Not bad... but not all that fun either. I'll stop boring you guys now. Read and Review!

I

**Kurama (kitsune): **I scrambled to Botan, shushing her. I reached around her, cradling her for a few short moments as I struggled to get a relaxing mix I had made myself. I pinched her cheek, slapping her lightly.

"Botan? Stay with me. I've got you. You're going to be okay."

Hiei backed up the wall, running his hands up and over his face and through his hair. He stood and walked to my side. The color wasn't back in his face yet.

"K-kurama?"

It was a fight to get the words out of her shaking lips.

"That's right. It's me. You're safe." Her arms wrapped around me, squeezing and tugging the sleeves of my shirt. I had never held such a desperate and frightened woman quite like that before. "I'm going to give you some medicine. Just open your mouth."

She parted her lips, her breaths shallow and quick.

"O-okay."

She wasn't crying anymore. Her chest heaved as she tried to gain control over herself. I used a dropper and gave her three drops.

"There." I patted her head, feeling a bit awkward at trying to comfort her. "You're alright."

I slid out of her grasp, and it seemed that she was okay with that. I turned to see Hiei staring at her from the corner of his eye. His arms were crossed, but I knew that he wasn't going to move. He wasn't done with her. I could tell that something was on his mind... that he was only going to share when I was gone.

So I left.

**Notes from Botan's Journal (spirit): **Kurama's solution made my adrenalin slow its flow. When he left, Hiei walked up to the table, his eyes nervous. I assumed that his palms were sweaty.

"Onna, how much do you really know about the Christmas Massacre?"

I hiccuped.

"J-just as much as you t-t-told me."

He glared at me.

"If you're lying onna I'll–"

"_**I'm not lying!"**_ My voice went a bit too high pitch. "Why would I l-lie to you?"

Hiei let out a breath.

"Fine. Calm down." He was squeezing the inside of his pockets. "Souls that were killed in the Christmas Massacre never... they never went anywhere."

I didn't get it.

"What do you mean?"

The Koorime crossed his arms. His face was so _pale_.

"The souls were destroyed so their hidden information, pain, would ever get out." His eyes connected with mine. "You're not supposed to exist." I was rooted to the spot. "That memory... of you getting executed as a royal... it was during the Massacre. It was the King. I'm sure of it."

I had a nervous flutter growing in my stomach.

"What does it mean?"

Hiei frowned, his eyes so steely and wary. It was like I was a ticking bomb ready to go off at any second.

"It means that if Enma found out who you really were he would kill you."

**Koenma (Son of God): **Botan was such a great asset to us that we just assumed that she was by Nature's grace. That is why my Father gave her the gift that many nigens and demons have died trying to get.

**Rekai History Expert (spirit): **The Queen of the North never left the hearts of the nigen children. No matter how much their parents tried to convince them that Santa Claus was not real, the children shook their head and stuck out their lower lip.

Every year they would leave out food and trinkets, and every year the parents would throw them out in the next days trash.

The one thing that never died about her was her song.

She would sing the children a lullaby that was quite common in Makai. Her first link between nigens and demons. It was haunting yet could be set to a toy box's melody. The children never stopped singing it.

**Kurama: **I remember this one time that Hiei actually had a question about Botan. It was right after we had rescued his sister. Hiei and I were walking together, the long way back to Rekai. We were not all that enthusiastic to wait on Koenma until he gave us a task.

As we were walking, enjoying the silence, Hiei broke it. Something that barely ever happens.

"Fox, what is the baka ferry onna like?"

If I had been drinking, I would have spit the liquid up.

"Eh?" I remember shoving my hands in my pockets. "Why?"

Then Hiei turned defensive.

"No reason baka kitsune!" There was a long... tense... and even awkward silence. "It's just... her eyes don't match her."

I frowned.

"What do you mean, Hiei?"

He turned to me, looking at me like I was the dumbest soul to walk the planet. After a few seconds of me not responding, he shook his head.

"Baka. She's got mourner's eyes." I still said nothing. "The onna! Her eyes look sad all the time."

I almost scoffed at his ridiculousness.

"Botan is fine. She's happy and **very **energetic, as you have seen." Hiei looked off into the distance, pouting like a little child. "It's just your imagination."

II

**Ayame (spirit): **Botan became a bit more quiet at work. She would still talk to me, but the conversations were not what they used to be, you know? It was really sad actually. I felt empty inside.

**George (ogre): **We all tried guessing what could have happened to her. Even Koenma was concerned. But we never found out why.

**Yukina (Koorime): **Botan came over more often. I've always loved her as a sister. She's always been there for me, and before I knew that Hiei was my brother, she would support me. And so when she came over, crying, there was only one thing to do.

I took her in.

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **I soon said goodbye to Kurama and Hiei and I left together. He kept on telling me that I could _**never**_ ever tell anyone in Rekai about my soul. I had never heard him talk to me so much before.

"Hiei... what if they find out? What if they kill me?"

The Koorime twitched when I said 'kill me'. We both saw my younger self being beheaded.

"They wouldn't do that."

He didn't sound convinced. His red eyes looked up into the sky and saw that it was starting to rain.

"So... I'll be seeing you?"

Hiei just crossed his arms.

"Hn."

I summoned my oar and there was this odd pull in my stomach telling me not to leave... but what else could I do?

"Um, Hiei?" He looked up. "Thank you." I ran my fingers through my blue hair. It felt dry, stiff... brittle. "I don't know... what I would have done if... if you hadn't helped me."

The fire demon found my eyes, and I still saw the fear in them. Like I said, not _of_ me but _for_ me.

"Don't thank me, onna." His shoulders suddenly relaxed. "Now you have to be more careful, do you understand me, baka ferry onna?"

I nodded.

"Yes." I mounted the oar. "See you around."

**Genkai (nigen): **Botan came over a lot and she seemed to be falling apart from the inside. She would always be with Yukina, and at night, I couldn't help but listen in on their conversations.

**Yukina: **At the dead of night, Botan and I were still whispering away. Her pink eyes were shimmering in the lack of moonlight.

"I'm so s-s-sorry Yukina."

I hugged her to me, knowing what a deep fear felt like.

"It's okay, Botan. You can tell me."

She sighed and trembled against me.

"I... I... Hiei h-h-helped m-me about three w-w-weeks ago." I let her take a few breaths. "I had been having these nightmares, but they didn't _feel _like dreams, you know?"

Flashes of the nightmares of being taken by Tarukane entered my mind.

"Yes, I understand."

Botan slackened, and she was whispering into my neck.

"My nightmares... they weren't really nightmares."

I didn't say anything.

"_They were memories."_

III

**Kurama: **Hiei came to me about two days after he had brought Botan in unconscious. He unlocked the window to my bedroom and that was where I found him. Sitting on my bed, his eyes hard and stony.

"What a pleasant surprise." I sat down next to him. "Who should I owe this appearance to?"

"The onna."

A long pause. I hadn't mentioned it to him. I didn't ask him what he saw or why Botan was so pale when she said goodbye. I was nice about it.

"What about her?"

Hiei looked around and he opened his Jagan. I didn't feel him enter my mind. Either he was keeping track of someone else or he was making sure that no one was surrounding the house.

"You can't speak a word of his to anyone, Kurama." He doesn't usually use my name. It's always 'kitsune' or 'fox'. "It's a matter of an innocent life."

I bowed my head.

"Hiei, you've always had my word with you."

The Koorime looked at me, and then away again. This really had been eating at him.

"The last time... when... when Bo-the ferry onna was here... the both of us discovered something."

**Enma (God): **I remember the day that I called Botan into my office. She was so flustered. This was at least a century before the Rekai Tentei were put into existence. Her pink eyes looked up into mine as she dropped to the floor and bowed.

"Enma, sir, I am honored that you requested my immediate presence!"

I got out of my chair and bent down to the floor, using my large hand to lift her head so she was looking at me.

"Botan, you are the purest soul in the Three Worlds." She said nothing as she turned bright red. "I know that Koenma and the others have said this, but all those times were not compliments. They were facts." She still said nothing. "You've been a great asset to us, you are the best ferry girl my son and I have ever seen, and I would like to give you a reward for all of your hard work."

She looked up into my eyes, those bubble-gum pink irises shining.

"I-I d-d-don't under s-stand, sir."

I knew that the first thought was a raise, but Koenma gave her that already.

"I'm speaking of immortality."

**Yukina: **I was worried. What kind of memories? Why was Botan so distressed over it?

"Yukina... I saw myself die." She hugged me tighter than before. "I was... I was a kid... a-a-a-and I was beheaded... by a demon."

Naturally I was concerned.

"By what demon?"

My shirt was getting wet because of her tears.

"The King of the North."

My eyes widened. I knew that name.

"That's i-impossible, Botan."

"No... it's true." She sobbed. "Yukina... I had to get if off my chest. Hiei... Hiei said that all souls from the Christmas Massacre were destroyed."

My throat was dry.

"W-what?"

She only pulled me tighter.

"If... if they find out that... I'm... a soul from the Massacre... they'll kill me."

**Genkai:** Even my old heart froze in my chest. I backed away from Yukina's door so fast that I almost slammed into the wall. I quickly snuck back to my bedroom and sat on the bed.

Botan... a _**live **_soul from the Christmas Massacre.

Incredible. It was like talking about the Loch Ness Monster or what really created the Stone Hedge. No one would really stand by you. It was just a story.

Well, this myth just happened to come true. In my own temple, none the less.

**Kurama: **I got Hiei to come downstairs before he told me and I put the tea kettle on the stove.

"What did you find out?"

He was sitting on the window sill. He knew he knew that he could trust me.

"She's... she's got... a past... that could get her killed."

I raised my eyebrows.

"Did she witness something? Like a crime or–"

"She was in the Christmas Massacre." My eyes felt like they shot out of my skull. "She was killed by the King."

For a moment, I couldn't breathe. I sat down in the chair.

"Tell me." My eyes closed as I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Everything."

**Enma: **She looked confused. She must have never heard of this gift before.

"You know the story of Adam and Eve?" Botan nodded. "They were the first people to get this reward, but as you know, they were stripped of it's title when Eve ate the apple."

She twisted a blue lock around one of her long fingers.

"B-but sir, I thought that was just a myth. A fable."

"No, it's not." I felt myself smile. "Immorality will, as everyone knows, allow you to live for all eternity." She wasn't sure if I was joking with her or not. I could tell by the way her eyebrows were down close to her eyes, making a crease in the middle. "You will work next to Koenma and I, and I'm sure that you will love it."

Botan looked around.

"I'm not sure what to say." She found my eyes again. "How many others have gotten this gift?"

"Only two others."

_Adam and Eve._

There was a long silence. She smiled up and looked like the angel that she was.

"I accept."

IV

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **On all of my lunch breaks I would try and find Hiei. It's strange, how two people can come together. I can't say that are friends, but he actually talks to me other than his famous reply, 'Hn'.

He told me to just stay calm. That nothing was going to happen.

But we both knew that I couldn't play it cool. Not when you know that you shouldn't exist. That you were part of a Rekai coverup.

"Onna, if they didn't know then, then they don't know now."

I rubbed my arms.

"I just keep on thinking... that... somehow Enma will find out and come for me." I tried to smile at him. "My oar can't outrun God."

He didn't smile back. Not that I was expecting him to.

"Hn." Hiei didn't say anything for a long while. "If you ever really run into trouble involving Rekai and Enma... you have nothing to worry about."

"What are you talking about? The Three Worlds will be out to find my head!"

He shook his head, his eyes distant.

"No." He met my eyes again. "There are demons out there that would do anything to keep a soul like yours in existence."

**Kurama: **He told me. He told me about watching Botan die. He stopped after that part, catching his breath. Everything he saw, he said, was genuine memory. It was too vivid to be some mere nightmare. Besides, how would Botan be able to produce the images of the Christmas Massacre when she had only heard about it?

"Oh... oh God, Hiei this is serious."

He was wringing his hands. He wasn't losing the pitch ranges of his voice, but he was still just as worried as I was. I've been his best friend for... ages. I know when Hiei is actually feeling something other than apathetic annoyance.

"I know. I know."

I said the first thing that came to my mind.

"We need to get her out of there! She's not safe! It takes one slip up–"

"No!" He shouted at me, his Jagan still glowing. "If she just runs away, whether it's with me, or you, or both of us, then she'll **definitely **be found out!"

I sighed.

"We _have_ to do _**something**_. She's too valuable to the Three Worlds to be put in jeopardy."

We both looked down out our feet. I felt so small. I had saved the Three Worlds several times with Yusuke and the Rekai Tentei. But I had the feeling that even _if_ we got back together and took Botan away... we wouldn't have even a thirty percent chance of succeeding.

"So... so you saying that we just leave her to fend for herself?"

Hiei bristled.

"I'm not saying that I _**like **_the idea of Botan's soul being taken away from her!"

We were both silent. My eyes widened and I stared at him with an incredulous look on my face. I couldn't believe my ears. His own eyes were wide and his face... it was turning the lightest shade of pink.

_Hiei actually said Botan's name._

**Enma: **"You have to swear your allegiance to me. To our work."

She nodded.

"Of course. Not a doubt in my mind."

She wasn't lying. I raised my hand and pressed it to her forehead.

"Okay." I took a deep breath. _"By the power of my hand and the Three Worlds, I give Botan __**never ending life**__!" _

Bright light flashed from his hands and I heard her scream, a mixture of euphoria and pain. There was no turning back for her now. She was bound to us.

V

A/N: Thank you for all the reviews from last time! PLEASE leave just as many! Um, did you like everything? Any OCCness? Nothing I hope. Um, yeah. If you guys like Harry Potter, than check out my new fic: The Chronicles of Severus Snape. Peace! Review!

-mia

p.s. The Adam and Eve story might be wrong, I'm not a Bible expert, so if any part bothers you, review or private message me. I can take any form of criticism.


	6. Summer Days

The Biography of Hiei and Botan : Summer Days

A/N: Thanks for the reviews. I thought I was going to get more, so if you read it, like it or don't like it, tell me in a review! It would be amazing! Oh, so yeah. That's about it lol! Read and Review!

I

**Notes from Botan's Journal (spirit): **My life changed after I learned what I _really_ was. My dreams didn't scare me, they just struck me as enlightening and fascinating. Not only did it affect my dreams, but my personal life.

Koenma... as much as I loved him as I would love a brother, I couldn't trust him. It hurt my heart, to be edgy around George, Ayame, and Koenma of all people. But I couldn't help myself. I wanted to stay alive.

**Mukuro (demon): **Surviving soul of the Christmas Massacre? Now that you mention it, Hiei did say something about it.

A few days before the fiasco, he appeared in my office. His eyes were darkened and he spoke to me as if he were on death row.

"Mukuro, can I ask you a question?"

He was on one knee. I motioned for him to stand up.

"I thought we'd been through the fact that you don't need to ask me this."

The Koorime stood, brushing off his knees as his eyes met mine.

"I meant off record."

I was a bit surprised at this. Off the record was another way of saying to keep that question and answer a secret.

"Oh. Yes, you may."

He straightened his back and licked his lips before continuing.

"If I happened to come across someone important... that were involved in the Christmas Massacre... could I come to you for help?"

My heart began to beat faster. It is known that I hold that Massacre close to my heart. I raised my eyebrow.

"I suppose you would be able to." I poured some wine into a glass. "But no such person exists." I sipped the blood red wine. "Would you like some?"

My Second in Command turned swiftly on his heels.

"No thanks."

At the time, I didn't think of anything of it, watching his shadow recede out of my office.

**Kurama (kitsune): **You could say that Hiei and Botan were brought together by the Massacre. He would come over, but not as much as he used to. I mean, it was purely understandable. Each visit would be heavily laced with apocalyptic talk of what we should do. One can only take so much of that.

But there was the other thing... the reason that I never brought up.

Botan.

I knew that they were seeing each other a lot in those days. By the new information about her that be brought back. By the smell of her on his hands or cloak. Or his overall slightly more relaxed attitude.

Were they lovers?

No.

Not then.

**Yusuke Urameshi (demon): **Genkai had a little barbecue in the summer before Botan's great departure.

Everyone came. Kuwabara flirted with Yukina. Hiei glared at him, standing next to Kurama. Shizuru would either be hitting her brother, chatting it up with Keiko or Botan, or standing with Kurama. My girlfriend, Keiko, was all over the place, mostly just talking with the top ferry girl of Rekai. Even Koenma showed up.

What I remember is that everyone was smiling and having a good time. No gossip. No dirty and scandalous secrets. The beauty of not being a family, but a group of best friends.

Then I noticed that Hiei was gone. I scanned for him in the crowd, and that was when I noticed that Botan was gone too.

I was about to shout, but a hand on my shoulder stopped me.

"I wouldn't do that, Yusuke." I turned to see Kurama standing behind me, a small smile quirked on his lips. "Just let them be."

My brown eyes must have shot out of my head.

"Are Hiei... and Botan...?" I was floundering, gesturing helplessly. "You know..."

The fox chuckled.

"No."

He never elaborated. My curiosity was raging. If they weren't screwing each other's brains out, then what were they doing that they couldn't do in the eyes of their best friends?

It drove me so far to the point where I snuck away from the party.

II

**Genkai (nigen): **That party? I remember Yusuke running out of the forest with his hair and shirt on fire, an angry Hiei hot on his tail.

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **"My Father, he was a priest." I kicked a stone out of my pathway. "He killed Her. And... I remember walking in on him, saying, 'Daddy?'". It was cool, goose-bumps on my skin. "I saw him that night. I was... I must have been seven. I didn't talk to him for an entire year... then I was..."

I trailed off.

I wasn't alone, that night at the party as I wandered through the woods. It looked like it, to the naked eye. But, I heard a few swishes of metal and a faint cry of a demon.

"Baka onna. Only you picked the most infested place in this forest." Hiei appeared on the branch of a tree in front of me. "And all these images were in your dreams?"

I nodded, rubbing my one arm absentmindedly.

"Yeah. It's not as scary as it was." I shivered, and not because it was cold out. "I'm... I'm not scared of my memories anymore." Another demon was killed, so it wouldn't harm me. "Even now, Koenma... no matter how much we've been through, it seems like I can't trust him."

Hiei flickered so that he was a few feet in front of me. He licked some blood off of his finger tips.

"Hn. You can't." My eyes lowered as I still rubbed at my arm. "Onna. Take this." My pink irises swivelled upwards to see the Forbidden Child holding out his hand to me. In his hand was his black overcoat. "You're cold."

**Yukina (Koorime): **The one thing about Hiei, was that when he was chasing Yusuke, his overcoat was gone.

**Keiko (nigen): **I was talking to Botan and she was going on about how Koenma never stops working and how he needed a vacation. The Prince overheard us and chortled along. She was joking and carrying on, and as I was telling her about Yusuke's odd habits, her eyes slightly widened and her grin faded ever so softly.

She bit her lip and excused herself, saying that she had to go to the bathroom.

Funny thing is, when she came back, she was running out of the woods, not the temple. Bathroom? No. She had more important plans to take care of.

**Kurama: **Hiei and Botan, though neither one of them would admit it, were becoming... friends. I know that it's hard to believe, them being polar opposites. When they first met, Hiei had this hatred for her.

Whenever they talked to each other, it would be death threats exchanged with short jokes. Not exactly the way two friends would act.

But when... when he had to be taken from Sensui's cave, no one could, except one person.

So Botan stayed behind, hoisting him on her back and smiling at us. She gave us a little salute and simply said, "It's what friends do."

I wasn't there when Hiei woke up, but all I knew was that he woke up next to or on the back of the ferry girl. But... what I am sure of... he didn't give her a death threat.

**Koenma (Son of God): **I know what happened. Botan told me. At the time, she had been immensely confused. She was in my office on her lunch break.

"It was so odd, Koenma."

I was munching on a rice cake.

"Well, what did he do?"

I watched her twist a blue curl around her pointer finger, her eyes traveling up to the ceiling as she recalled her memory.

"I was carrying him out, and you know, that cave is pretty big." Her pink eyes were narrowed, trying to remember every little detail. "I was almost out, so close, and all of a sudden, I feel him move. It was small, but it was just enough to feel him wake up."

She smiled and shivered. I straightened up in my chair.

"What? What happened?"

A giggle escaped her pink lips.

"Well, he was **not** happy with me."

III

**Yusuke: **Believe me, if you saw what I saw, you would have screamed too.

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **I was astonished almost wary to say the least. I mean, since when does _Hiei Jaganshi _offer anything to anybody out of kindness.

My eyebrows were close together, making a worry line on my forehead as I took his jacket.

"Um... thanks."

I slipped it on, and it was so _**warm.**_ It must have been his body. It was incredible, really.

"I don't want the one surviving soul of the Christmas Massacre dying of a dumb cold."

My eyes were closed as I literally sank into his jacket. The warmth, the smell, it was all too good. I chuckled.

"You don't have to worry about sickness. Not when it comes to me."

He stopped walking and I bumped into him. When my eyes flashed open, his eyes were inches away from mine. Our eyelashes were brushing up against each other and his nose was rubbing against mine.

"_**What?**_" I was paralyzed. "What do you mean, onna?"

I licked my lips, letting out a breath. I knew that it was fanning over his face.

"N-nothing. I h-have a good immune system is all. Honest!"

He was closer. So close. No one had ever been this close to me. Ever.

He reached up to his bandana, to untie it. To activate his Jagan.

Just when I thought he was going to find out just why I can never get sick... a scream made all the birds flee from the trees. It sent shivers down my spine and Hiei accidentally stepped forward.

Our lips touched. For the shortest of moments.

I don't even think he noticed. The next second, he was gone, and I heard Yusuke yelping in pain.

**Kurama: **Songs were changing on the radio and that was when we heard it. Yusuke's scream. We didn't have time to become chilled or to even make a move towards the general direction before he came out of the woods.

The tips of his hair was on fire and the sleeves of his shirt were also aflame. He wasn't even five feet clear of the forest before Hiei leaped out of the trees, his face darkened with fury.

"Baka detective!"

I wanted to laugh and gasp at the same time. Let me tell you, the mixture of the two will make you cough. Badly.

**Genkai: **Hiei was harmless. He wasn't going to actually _kill _Yusuke. Just scare him a bit. Punish him for whatever he did.

**Kuwabara (nigen): **Thank Kami that Yukina was thinking. I sure wasn't.

**Yukina: **Well, there really wasn't much thought put into it. Yusuke was on fire and my brother wasn't doing anything to put it out. So I grabbed the cooler, full of the water from melted ice.

I doused Yusuke in the ice cold water, putting the fire out.

IV

**Koenma: **"Since when his Hiei ever happy? What did he do?"

I really wanted to know. It was a good story so far.

"Well, I didn't know what to do. I mean, Hiei Jaganshi was on my back, awake and conscious, and the only demon I know who hates me with a passion." She drew in a breath. "I paused in my walking. And that gave me away."

"He growled in my ear, saying, 'Onna, let me down _**now**_ if you want to keep your precious life.'. It was pretty frightening at the time. So I removed my hands from the back of his legs and he slid off of me."

"'Where are the others?' he asked me. I told him that they were coming. I explained to him that I was the only one who could carry him out. 'Why did you do it, onna?'"

I was practically on the edge of my desk.

"What did you tell him?"

Botan smiled at me.

"I just told him that I was the only one, but he didn't like that answer. He said that if I really, really, didn't want to do it, one of the Rekai Tentei would have manned up and carried him out. So... he asked again why I carried him out."

"And I said that it's what a team does. They stand up for each other and help each other."

I snorted.

"And his response to that?"

Botan actually didn't seem put off that I laughed.

"He just kind of muttered, 'You didn't have to do that.' and walked away, hands in his pockets."

The smile on her face, it was airy. Dreamy. She left afterwards, and I had to agree, it was an odd thing for Hiei to do.

I was expecting some gruesome death threat.

But... I mean, I wouldn't be the one to make the judgement, but by Botan's description, it sounded as if Hiei Jaganshi was embarrassed.

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **I turned to see Yusuke. His eyes were wide and his face was slowly starting to turn red. He burst out laughing, Hiei and I standing still as statues.

"Hiei and Botan sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" His chest puffed out as if he had just won some argument. "Sorry that I interrupted your make out session."

My face was on fire. I hid my face in my hands, and that was when I heard the ex-detective scream. I peeked through my fingers to see that Yusuke was on fire.

Hiei turned to me, his eyes fiery.

"We _**will **_continue this later, onna."

With that sinister promise, he left me, sprinting after the detective.

**Enma (God): **Botan's body smoked, her kimono starting to smolder and burn. It began to fall away, and I gazed down at her bare back.

Her skin was staring to raise, swirls and ancient patterns glowing and burning into her skin. Her entire back, from her tail bone to the edge of her shoulders would be covered in the age old insignia of Rekai.

When it was finished, it was pale white. The color of scar tissue.

Some have called it a gift. Many have died trying acquire never ending life. Eternal youth.

And those have had it, have deemed it a curse.

**Genkai: **What did Yusuke see? Don't ask me. I don't know. He looked like he was dying to tell the world. But every time he took deep breath, Hiei's bandana would glow and Yusuke would clamp his mouth shut.

**Kurama: **Botan followed Hiei out of the woods, and the strange thing was, she was holding his coat. It seemed that Hiei had lost his coat as he chased after Yusuke.

It wasn't until Botan ran up to me that I had my doubts. As she bounded up to me, I saw that her skin was smooth.

Even I had goose-bumps on that cool summer night. And Botan had none.

V

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **I was walking to my apartment about a week after the barbecue. I was taking a stroll through the park when I heard a voice from the trees.

"An onna like you walking out in the cold should have something warm on." Hiei's black overcoat fluttered down from the trees. "Put it on."

I caught it, pulling it over my shivering body.

"T-thank you."

Hiei jumped down from the tree, his bandana still on.

"I don't want to use my Jagan." His curt statement, no emotion, remorse, nothing. "You can either tell me, or I can make you tell me."

I nodded, my blue hair shifting on my head as I grabbed his wrist and tugged him, silently telling him, 'This way'. The night was silent as I dragged Hiei Jaganshi towards my apartment, not knowing what lay ahead of me in the horizon.

**Yusuke: **You have no idea how _fucking _cold that water was.

VI

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! Please leave some if you read this! If you like it, hate it, or if it gives you gas, I want to know! Thankies!

-mia


	7. Scars of Immortality

The Biography of Hiei and Botan : Scars of Immortality

A/N: Thank you for the reviews. Keep on leaving them. Read and Review!

I

**Rekai Spirit Expert (spirit): **Human kind was meant to be a great race. A race that never suffered, a race that was pure in intention, a race that loved and didn't hate.

All was ruined when Eve ate the apple from the Tree of Knowledge. Mankind was to never be blessed with such perfection after that day.

**Kurama (kitsune): **A week after the party, I got a disturbing telepathic cry for help from Hiei. Mind you, I never got to answer it, and he never spoke of it again, but I did get it none the less.

**Enma (God): **Adam and Eve were mistakes. It takes time to find the real pure and worthy souls. Like Botan.

**Notes from Botan's Journal (spirit): **My heart was hammered in my chest. I knew... I knew that since Hiei wanted my safety above all others, that I could trust him. Yet still... I trembled as I tried to slide the key into my apartment door.

I could feel his eyes on me. Probably thinking that I'm just a baka for getting so anxious.

If only he knew.

"Here, sit."

I dragged him into the bedroom and sat him down on my bed. It was odd, even though his expression was a bit dark, he never stopped me touching him and telling him what to do. His red eyes were locked with mine. He wanted answers. So did I.

"I... I... I need to know if I can trust you."

I practically blurted out the words. My hands clamped over my mouth in order to stop myself from screaming. This stress was unbearable.

"Onna... you would know if you couldn't trust me." He paused. "You wouldn't exist if I wasn't trustworthy."

That got me to stop having doubts about his loyalties.

"Okay... okay..." I kept on pacing about, trying to psyche myself up. "Um... just... just..."

"Hn. You've never been so inarticulate in the years that I have known you." He smirked. "Spit it out."

I kept on running through what would sound best through my head. _Hiei... I am indestructible. _No. Too super hero. _I can never die. _Not entirely true. Enma could strip me of my title as an Immortal, but that would not happen... _No mortal things concern me... _All of it just seemed wrong.

"I... just let me... show you."

**Keiko (nigen): **I remember way back when that I was jealous of Botan because I thought that Yusuke had valued her over me. Which wasn't true.

After I knew all about Yusuke and him being a Spirit Detective, we became good friends.

At sleep overs between me and her, we would take about girl things, and naturally I wanted to know her perspective on all sorts of things, ranging from kissing to sex.

I was surprised with her answers.

She basically told me that she had a low self esteem. She couldn't see another man or woman loving her, and sex, let alone baring herself to someone, would just be too embarrassing to bear.

**Yusuke (demon): **I once joked with Botan that she should hook up with Kurama, since he was such a looker and probably a pro in the sack.

You should have seen how red her face turned.

**Koenma (Son of God): **She never expressed any romantic interest in anybody. If she did, she kept it well hidden. I suppose it was because of her self critical nature. Not many knew, in fact, I don't even think the Rekai Tentei were aware of just how sharply her eyes fell on her own body.

It was always there, since when she first came here.

The only other time I had seen such a look is when a soul had sinned so greatly that they could barely stomach themselves.

**Kurama: **Hiei might inquire about things here and there, using telepathy sparingly. When he does, all that comes across is his presence and voice.

The message that I am talking about, however, was like one that I had never seen.

A picture flashed before my eyes, so vivid that I had the taste and smells overriding my senses. Hiei's adrenalin now pumped through my veins and my palms became sweaty. He only said one thing.

_Help!_

II

**Mukuro (demon): **Hiei wasn't the type to be prude. He had seen me naked and I had seen him naked. End of story. No, we never had sex. I wanted to, but Hiei didn't. He flat out told me. He was not interested in becoming my mate.

Heartbreaking?

A little.

In the end, I decided that it would be better to not have Hiei as my mate. I would not want to make him change his ways and desires just so he could be with me.

**Kuwabara (nigen): **One time, when the gang and I went swimming, I remember we had finally goaded Botan into coming the water. She jumped in, and when she came up for air, her hair was stringy and all over the place.

It was then, and only then, that I saw the scars on her back.

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **I turned my back to him. My hands and knees were shaking so bad that I thought I was going to pass out. I wiped my forehead and bit my lip. My hands took off Hiei's overcoat and let it fall to the floor.

Then my fingers brushed the sash of my kimono.

Making sure that the windows shades were drawn and that I was still conscious, I closed my eyes and pulled my sash.

**Kurama: **The image was so clear that I can still recall it vividly today.

It was of a woman's back, and after allowing the image to sink in, I realized that it was Botan's back. Hiei's heart was hammering in his chest, his hands clutching the bed sheets like they were his only lifeline.

I was experiencing his fear through his eyes.

His chest was tight and his face was hot.

In front of him, our beloved ferry girl's right hand was held out, holding the red sash. Her pink kimono seemed to just jump, and then fall off of her, like a husk off of corn.

Her hair was just barely touching her back. Her other hand slowly reached around to gather up her blue locks and pull them over her shoulder, so that her entire back was exposed.

**Mukuro: **No, Hiei never became flustered over trivial things like nudity. Why?

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **I made sure that my kimono was saying up to cover my lower part of my body, but my entire back had to be exposed, my shoulders, and my neck. I don't want to turn around. I don't want to do anything. I'm so terrified that... I that I almost fainted.

**Kurama: **The image only lasted a few seconds. It ended with Botan's hands resting at her chest, her elbows bent and her entire form shaking. After that, the image was cut out.

**Enma: **To bear those markings was an honor that all mankind knew. Now that time has eroded memories, they seem like scars. Beautiful and intricate scars.

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **This had to be one of the most drastic things I had done in my entire life. I'm not the type of person to be daring, but the occasion called for it. It was the only way.

I stood there, so many questions whizzing about in my head that I almost went mad. Did Hiei leave? Was he disgusted? Was he going to tell Enma what I had done? Was I alone?

My arms were covering my chest, trying to hold the kimono there. I turned every so slightly, looking over my shoulder.

"Onna..." His eyes were glued to my back. My pink eyes felt so heavy. I know, it sounds weird, but that's what the felt like. His body was beginning to relax. He stood and walked up to me. "What are they?"

My breath fanned out over his face.

"Ancient Rekai markings."

The only sound in the world was our breathing.

"What do they mean?"

His fingers cautiously touched a deep line. I did nothing to silently tell him to stop. He began to trace them, slowly. I swear, it was like... it was like time stopped.

**Kurama: **The next time I saw Hiei, I immediately asked him about the picture he sent me. I asked him if Botan was okay. I asked him why she took off her kimono.

He merely shoved his hands in his pockets and stalked off.

**Rekai History Expert: **Rekai spirits mating with demons is very rare. The overall feeling towards each other is hostile to begin with. Over the years of not mating with each other, it was just assumed that no spirit would ever consider mating with someone of demonic decent.

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **"They... they..." His fingers swirled around a mark. I don't even know if he knew how sensual it was. He probably didn't. "They stand for..." His eyes were so concentrated on my skin, it was amazing. I had only seen him so intensely focused once before. When he was fighting Mukuro. "Immortality."

His hands stopped.

**Keiko: **I tried to tell her that she had a good body. A great body. She really did. Legs a man would kill for.

But still... she insisted that love, passion, and hot sex was not for her. I tell you, all she needs to do is experience what being in love is like and she'll be sold on the idea.

**Koenma: **It's not like we forbid Botan from every getting married or going to dates. It's just... well, becoming immortal is like cutting yourself off really. Sure, you could fall in love and have sex, but that would only last a few seconds in the eyes of someone who would always stay the same age.

She thought the entire situation out.

Why bother if it would just bring her pain?

**Rekai History Expert: **Actually, that's not true. An Immortal Spirit would be able to find a life partner, but not a nigen and not a spirit.

In order for both entities to live in the same time plane, the spirit would have to mate with a demon.

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **I stopped shaking. There was this silence, but I couldn't tell if it was awkward or not. I started to shrug my kimono on, reaching down to get my red sash. I tied it tightly around my waist and struggled to straighten out the back of it.

"Immortality?"

I pulled, smoothed, and pinched my kimono until it was back the way was.

"Yes." I turned to face him. I tried to smile, but it simply wasn't a smiling matter. "Enma rewards the purest souls with never ending life."

I sat on my bed. Hiei sat beside me.

"Onna..." He pulled out his katana. "If I sliced you to ribbons right now, you wouldn't die?"

The thundering wave of nausea made me swoon.

"N-n-no, I w-w-w-w-wouldn't." Bile began to churn in my stomach and tears stung my eyes like acid. "I w-w-would s-s-s-still f-f-f-f-feel the p-p-pain."

I couldn't tell what I was saying, the stuttering was that bad.

"Only mortals feel pain."

His katana was still in his deadly hands.

III

**Kurama: **I pestered Hiei. He was disconcerted. Distant.

"What happened? What did you do? What did she do?"

I must have sounded like a teenage girl in need of some medication. I kept on questioning him until he turned, almost making me run right into him.

"Nothing of **your **concern happened fox! Just leave it be!"

I decided that I had pushed him too far. Some secrets were meant to be secrets.

**Genkai (nigen): **Pain? I'm not sure. Botan had cooked for me on several occasions, and I saw her hand accidently go right into the flame. Not even a wince came out of it. But later, when she slept, she moaned in her sleep.

**Enma: **It's true. Pain is only a mortal experience. Botan doesn't feel pain, per say, but something else. More raw. Just to be able to relate, but not really.

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **My eyes flickered from the door to Hiei's hands. I didn't want him to cut me. Slice me into paper thin sections. I wouldn't feel anything. I would just scream out of sheer horror of _Hiei _hurting _me. _

Pain is not just the agony of living. No, pain is the twist you get in your throat when your best friend turns their back on me. Pain is the sting of failing a test. The tightening in your stomach when you're kissed.

Pain is not just pain. Pain is infinite.

"H-Hiei, p-p-p-plea–"

His Jagan Eye flashed open and I felt my entire mind being invaded. His eyes locked with mine, flooding me. I was drowning in red as my deepest fears and secrets were all at his dispose.

My eyes rolled back into my head.

I saw myself looking in the mirror. Poking at the bags under my eyes. A flicker of a shadow, and my heart jumping. Spinning around, I would realize that I was alone.

By the clothes I was wearing, I could tell that this was years ago. _Back when I first met Hiei..._

Just as fast as I fell, I was yanked back out of my mind. I rubbed at my eyes, trying to hide the tears the had accidentally fallen.

"Onna." I heard the hiss of Hiei's katana being sheathed. He grabbed my chin, his Jagan forcing my hands to lower and my eyes to open. "You feared me." His one hand was on his katana still. "You thought I was going to kill you with my katana." I could not deny him. "Why did that scare you so much?"

What he really asked was, Why be scared if you can't die?

"The pain." I couldn't look away. Looking back, I don't know if it was his Jagan Eye or just me keeping the eye contact. "The pain of seeing you do that to me."

**Yukina (Koorime): **My brother, he has a code. I don't know the entire thing, but what little I have committed to memory brings a warmth to my heart. On the top of his list of what he will never do is kill women and children.

**Yusuke: **The death threats? Please. Hiei would never actually threaten a person that he intended to kill. He would just kill them. Besides, how much harm could Botan ever bring him?

None.

You want to know why I know that Hiei would never kill Botan? Okay, I'll tell you why.

Back on one of our more smaller and boring missions, we had to camp out in Makai. Makai isn't the kind of place to bring the wife and kids for a picnic, mind you.

Hiei slept in a tree, and the rest of us just took up various spots on the ground.

I don't remember exactly when, but I had to get up in the night because nature called. As I stumbled away from the camp, I heard this horrible scream.

**Kurama: **For a week Hiei was inconsolable. It was as if he was ashamed of himself.

**Mukuro: **It's a pain in the ass when my Second in Command decides to get in a little fit.

**Rekai History Expert: **However, if an immortal spirit mated with a demon, the act alone would be a terrible blow to Rekai. The advances would be great, and so would the harboring consequences.

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **My hands were gripping the edge of my kimono as I turned away.

"Does this complicate things?"

Hiei didn't have to answer or nod. We both knew that it did. A soul that wasn't supposed to exist, immortal. It was impossible, and yet... here we were.

"Hn."

Just by checking out of the corner of my eyes, I could tell that the fire demon wanted to say something.

"What?"

He was still impassive and cold. Even though I knew that Hiei felt nothing, really wasn't a friend but more of a forced acquaintance, I still felt myself smiling as he clutched the sheets tightly.

"I wouldn't have killed you."

**Yusuke: **Naturally, I was intrigued by it. With my shoes off, I could sneak around without making much noise.

After ducking behind a few trees, I finally got the spot.

It was a about fifteen feet out, and I saw a demon on his knees. He was an ugly brute, with blood on his face. His fangs were long and dripped onto the dirt.

"Please... she's just a nigen..."

A wack.

"_**No.**_"

The big demon snarled, seeming to have gotten a second wind.

"Why does she matter to _**you, **_a demon? If she chooses to sleep in these woods, then I should be able to do whatever I want with her!"

I watched as the vicious brute tried to make it past his tormentor, reaching out with huge claws.

I blinked. The next thing I saw was the demon, falling into two pieces on the ground.

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **"Then why did... did you say that you would...?"

He didn't answer me.

"Why scare me?"

Still, no answer. His hands just clenched tighter around the sheets.

**Yusuke: **Hiei stepped out from the shadows, wiping his katana off on his black pants. He glared at the demon and then began to walk off. Not really thinking, just too enwrapped in the moment, I followed him.

He never jumped into a tree. Instead, he remained on the ground. He walked back to a tree and sat down, leaning his back against the trunk. His right hand always remained on his trusty katana even as his eyes drifted shut.

I waited for something to happen, but after five minutes, I remembered why I woke up in the first place. I walked back, and then stopped suddenly. Everything kind of clicked when I turned and looked over my shoulder.

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **"All you had to say was, Leave me alone, and I would have."

Nothing.

"You could say that right now, and you won't hear a word from me. I promise."

I stuck out my pinky.

"Pinky swear."

Still, nothing.

I was about to open my mouth again when he grabbed my wrist, pulling me down so that we were at eye level.

"_**Quiet onna!**_" Those red eyes... so furious. "Don't mock me!"

**Yusuke: **Hiei was sleeping against the one side of the tree. On the other side, with her blue hair down and her knees pulled up to her chest was Botan.

In the light of the Makai moon, she looked like one of those Roman statues. So perfect that only the Gods could court her.

A demon appeared on her side and squealed with delight at such a tasty looking meal.

In an instant, the demon was slaughtered. It's blood sprayed out and Hiei made sure to not let a drop hit the ferry onna as he dragged the beast around to the other side of the tree.

He sighed and walked back to Botan's side of the tree. The peaceful side. The pure side.

His eyes were narrowed as they studied her face, his lips curled in a scowl. He took off his scarf and walked up to her. My brown eyes widened as I watched him dab at her cheek, wiping blood off of it.

She took a sudden breath and Hiei flickered out of sight.

Her pink eyes were wide as she touched her cheek, looking around with fear sparkling in her eyes. Her arms were out, stretching so that they were pressed against the tree trunk.

On the other side of the tree was Hiei, his back up against the trunk. His eyes were wide and they swivelled to the side.

They were both listening, waiting to hear something from the other side.

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **"H-Hiei..."

We were just looking at each other. His eyes were angry. Afraid. Doubtful. I allowed my face to slacken and my muscles to relax in his hold.

"Baka onna..."

He began to get closer to me. I'm not sure if either of us really noticed just how close we were getting at the time.

**Yusuke: **Point is, Hiei stayed up all night for her. Protecting her. The next morning, Botan was cheery as she made eggs. She looked for Hiei, and found him on the ground, sleeping. I remember how she just stared at him for a while, leaving the eggs on the ground next to him and backing away slowly.

I wouldn't know how to describe what that was.

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **We just kept on looking into each other's eyes. Searching for answers. Questions. Hate. Compassion. Anything, really.

**Yusuke: **Hiei didn't hate Botan. Not even back then. I'm not a shrink or a doctor, but I'm willing to bet money that it was the opposite of hatred.

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **His hand reached up to my one cheek and before I even registered how rough his bandages were, he kissed me.

Somewhere, in the world, a baby was born.

Somewhere, in the world, a man died.

Somewhere, in the world, a flower bloomed.

Right then, that little speck of time belonged to us. And only us. His hand began to stroke my cheek, and I remember shivering as my eyes closed. He smelled like the air that blew through the leaves of the trees.

He tasted like... mint.

When he pulled back, my eyes were still closed. When I opened them, he was still there.

Silence.

My fingers touched my lips, as if to see if what had just happened had actually occurred. My cheeks felt hot, and I swore that he was bit pink himself. It was just our breathing that filled the room.

Once again, I opened my mouth to say something, I don't remember what, and he just shook his head.

"Quiet, onna. Just let it be."

IV

A/N: Did you like it? The emotion, was it there? I'm trying to work on emotion, if you couldn't tell. I want to make someone cry (I know that sounds mean... but I do... lol). Please, tell me if you liked it or didn't like it!

-mia

p.s. Was Hiei OOC? If so, a lot or a little.

P.s.s. Try out Signed, Anonymous please, if you have the time.


	8. When the World is Flat

The Biography of Hiei and Botan : When the World is Flat

A/N: Thank you for the reviews. If you read, then please review. Oh, I just watched the Boondock Saints. I think it's a great movie (except for the character Rocco), but others have disagreed lol. All is good in love and cinema! Read and Review!

I

**Koenma (Son of God): **I have no idea when the plans were put into motion, but I'm telling you this, no one had any idea what was about to happen.

**Kurama (kitsune): **It took almost two weeks until Hiei started talking about Botan again. It was during that time that I longed for Hiei's ability to read minds. I wanted to know what happened between those two.

**Notes from Botan's Journal (spirit): **Hiei left quickly. He said nothing. I blinked, and literally, I was alone.

**Yusuke (demon): **I remember that Keiko tried talking to me about Botan. She asked me if I thought she was depressed.

It was the stupidest question I had ever heard.

**Keiko (nigen): **I don't care what he said, I think Botan was depressed. We had a little slumber party, just me and her, and I had to just come right out and say it. Her eye s were so sad, more sad than usual. And she barely ever grinned.

She kept on looking out the window, like she was expecting someone.

No one ever came.

**Kurama: **I was about to really unload on Hiei. I mean, he wasn't speaking about her and her situation was _very _important. But, before I could say anything, he just comes to my door. He just walks right past me and sits on the edge of my marble kitchen counter. He just looks at me, like nothing odd had ever transpired between us, and spoke in his cold voice.

"The onna thinks that there is a way to enlighten all of Rekai."

It was the first time Hiei had said the word _onna _in a sentence for about two weeks.

"Does she, now?"

**Mukuro (demon): **Hiei locked himself away in the training room. He practiced all day and night. It came to the point where he just feel asleep from exhaustion or blood loss.

After about a week and a half, I kicked him in the side in order to bring him back to consciousness. He groaned and squinted as I yanked open the shades to let in the harsh Makai sunlight.

"Wake up." The entire room was lit, the rays of sun slicing through the windows and attacking his withering figure. "I don't know what has thrown you into this depression." He was about to interject, but I interrupted him. "But I will not allow this to go on any longer."

II

**Keiko: **Botan hadn't seemed so down. I mean, she tried to smile. She really did. But she just couldn't bring herself to do it. I touched her shoulders as she was getting ready for bed.

"Botan... I don't know what happened, but come on... it can't be that bad."

When our eyes met, she broke.

The ferry girl began to cry.

**Yukina (Koorime): **My brother has a very odd way of showing his affection. He has only hugged me once, and has never told me that he loves me. I understand. Instead, he's protective and tried to keep his bloodline a secret because he thought that I would be ashamed.

I have a feeling that I am not the only one that he holds dear to his heart.

**Yusuke: **Botan came to me, in secret. It was after her sleep over with Keiko, and we just had dinner at a little café just around the corner from my house. All she ordered was tea, so I felt like a pig when I had a full meal.

"Yusuke... I think... I think I've done something terrible."

The one detail I can always remember about that night is the way she was shivering in the middle of summer.

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **I got up and went to the window, which was left open. Hiei left. He kissed me. And he left. My hands were up over my mouth and my teeth clamped down on my fingers.

_Did I do something? I... I... I didn't mean to... was I bad? Does he hate me now? _

Even though he had said that he hated me, on several occasions, it still shattered my heart to think of it now...

I sat down on the bed, dragged a pillow into my lap, and began to cry.

**Keiko: **When I was younger, I used to cry. A lot. And my family always hated me for it. Especially mom and dad. If we were at a wedding or a funeral, and I started to cry, they would repel from me like oil and water. It didn't matter who it was, everyone treated me like I had some disease if tears were coming out of my eyes.

That is why when Botan began to cry, I got off of my bed, dropped to my knees, and pulled her into a hug.

**Kurama: **Hiei's skin color had returned. When he refused to talk to me, he had slowly started to loose weight and become paler. I know that it may be considered odd that I notice this, but I do.

When he walked into my house that day, he had a brisk pace. A purpose in every step.

It was then that I first suspected that Hiei was withholding information from me.

**Mukuro: **He clutched at his side.

"What are you talking about?"

His voice was raspy as he struggled to sit up.

"You've lost at least twenty pounds in the last eight days." I circled him like a lion that was about to go in for the kill. "You're almost as white as snow and you haven't slept unless you call passing out from sheer exhaustion sleep."

Hiei ran a shaking hand through his hair.

"I've been traini–"

"Training my ass." I stopped walking and just stood with my arms crossed against my chest. My one eyes glared at him. "I don't know what you did, or who you did it to, but I want to get one thing straight." My back straightened. "You had better get it sorted out before it kills you." I began to walk out of the room, my boots clicking on the stone floor. "Or I will."

**Yusuke: **I had ordered ramen, the noodles hanging out of my mouth.

"Terrible? You?" I slurped them up, inwardly relieved when I got her to giggle, even if it was a bit softer than normal. "Don't make me laugh."

Botan drank her tea and quickly ordered another.

"I... I don't know what to think anymore... I think I might have... made Hiei hate me even more..."

Her eyes were locked on her empty tea cup. Images of what I saw during my summer barbecue flashed in my mind.

"Go on..."

**Yukina: **The clues are all there. He respects Yusuke, shares the brilliant ideas of Kurama, and even has rescued Kuwabara. He's not the type of person to just come out and say, "I am your friend." His actions are his words.

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **Before the kiss, Hiei used to talk to me every day, though some days were strictly by telepathy. Sometimes we would have dinner together, and it was this odd sort of peace. Kind of like... we were friends... but... not.

But now... after the kiss...

I hadn't heard from him in three days.

III

**Mukuro: **Would I have actually killed Hiei? Are you nuts? Of course not. But there comes a time that I have to give my soldiers a good kick in the ass. As for Hiei, there is only one time when I ever need to get him back in line.

When the time comes when I could kill him and still survive to tell the tale... that is the day that I tell him to shape up or else.

And trust me, that day, with his skin clinging to his bones, I would have been able to kill him.

**Kurama: **Yes, I thought Hiei was keeping things from me. But the messages were so mixed... I wasn't able to narrow it down.

The first thing was that he wasn't going into detail about Botan's plan, only the fact that he had to leave soon to help her with it.

The second... is more personal.

Hiei was starting to slip and use her name more. At first, he was a bit flustered and would fix himself to using 'baka ferry onna'. Then... after many more 'mistakes'... he just simply called her Botan.

**Yusuke: **Her blue hair hadn't been combed. It was frizzy and knotty. I had never seen Botan look so bad before.

"Hiei... and I... we've become acquaintances... sort of." Her hands were glued to the hot cup. "I think... I think I blew the little progress I have made... and now is when I really need his help..."

She was trying hard not to cry. I could tell by the way her voice began to get thick in the end. Botan faked a yawn and drank her tea, which was piping hot.

I felt my right eyebrow raise, giving her a doubtful look.

"Really?" I leaned back in the soft seat and sighed. "Don't worry about short-stop."

She set down the cup.

"But I–"

"But nothing." I ordered pudding, for the both of us. "I'm not going to tell you that everything is going to be okay. I'm not going to tell you that Hiei is going to come walking through that door right now... but I will tell you this..." The café had light bulbs that were dim. Botan was leaning forward. "Hiei has never hated you." Her pink eyes filled with confusion and hurtful doubt. "He's never hated any of us, even Kuwabara."

She bit her finger nails even as the pudding was set in front of her. I grabbed my spoon and began to dig in.

"Yusuke... thanks."

I swallowed a delicious bite of the dessert.

"No problem." Spoonful after spoonful. "Just give him time."

**Enma (God): **As of this time, we don't know how Botan got all of the information needed. It was in our restricted files... and they haven't been touched in centuries.

**Ayame (spirit): **Botan fell into a slump at work. Just when I was going to comment on it, however, she came right back out of it. I swear, sometimes she can just get mood swings just like that.

**George (ogre): **Don't tell anyone I told you, but I know how Botan got those files.

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **The night was grey. I sat on a park bench, not so far from my apartment. There was a small lake that geese and ducks would sometimes swim in. None were in it now. Nothing but the reflection of the moon.

A breeze lifted my hair up just a bit. Enough to send a slight shiver down my spine. My eyes closed as I inhaled deeply.

"Hi." My eyes were still closed. "I was wondering if you were ever going to come back." The silence of the cool summer night echoed in my ears. I opened my eyes. No one was there, but I knew. I _**knew **_that Hiei Jaganshi was nearby. "I... I've needed to tell you something."

I heard the trees rustle in the wind. I closed my eyes. Hiei was still there.

How did I know?

I smelled sandalwood.

**Kurama: **Before I let Hiei leave, I asked him where he was going. He stopped in the doorway and shifted his weight from his left foot to the right.

"To the Edge of Makai."

He disappeared, a fierce wind kicking up. I watched as that bolt of wind struggled to catch up to the infamous Makai thief. The Edge of Makai...

_Just what could be at the Edge of the Worlds?_

**Koenma: **The Edge of Makai is a myth. A legend. It doesn't actually exist.

**Rekai History Expert (spirit): **The Edge of Makai, otherwise known as the End of all Worlds, was a myth that was created with the Worlds. Christopher Columbus challenged that theory by saying that the world was not flat and that there was no never ending abyss.

Columbus was right, in a sense.

The Worlds are round. They are planes that intersect.

But... where all three planes meet... there is said to be an Edge. Where the three worlds all end at the same time.

It's just a legend.

**Yusuke: **Botan left the café after having her pudding. She thanked me again and just flew off. I watched her for a little while before the waitress starting bitching at me about the bill. After dropping down a few bucks, I walked home.

The street lamps flickered as my shoes clicked on the sidewalk.

"Detective."

I stopped, standing alone under the dim yellow light.

"Hiei."

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **Hiei jumped down from a tree.

"How did you know that it was me?"

I almost smiled.

"Not telling." I stood and brushed myself off. "I just want to say... I'm sorry."

The fire demon stood there, hands in his pockets.

"Hn. For what, baka ferry onna?" His eyes, even though only seeing by the light of the moon, were as sharp and dangerous as ever. "It was my... fault."

The way he stood... swaying forwards and backwards, it was like he was debating coming any closer to me. He was waiting. Waiting to see how I would react.

"I..." My face flared up like a fire that had just been doused in gasoline. "I didn't mind."

His face, which had been tilted away, rose and looked up at me.

"You didn't, onna?"

I shook my head.

"Not at all."

**Kurama: **The next time I saw Hiei was about two weeks later, when the leaves were beginning to change. He knocked on the door, and walked inside. My green eyes could not stop staring at him as I watched him walk over to my oven.

Then to my windows. To my couch. The television, the drapes, and even the bathroom.

"What was it like?" His eyes had this look to them. The ice behind them had been melted. He seemed like he had just gotten a massage. He was so... relaxed. At peace. "Did you go? To the End of the Worlds?"

He touched the glass of a window in a cabinet.

"I did."

**Rekai History Expert: **The legend of the Edge of Makai has been told several different ways. In some strings of the story, the End of the Worlds are a black hole that is slowly devouring everything in its path.

Then there is the theory that the End of the Worlds is the real Heaven. A Heaven for all beings.

There is... however... one more theory.

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **He took a step forward.

"I don't love you."

My mouth dropped open.

"What?" He froze. "What are you _talking _about?"

Hiei frowned.

"Isn't that what nigen onnas think? When you are kissed then you mate?"

I actually did laugh. My head tilted back and I just laughed.

"Ha!" I wiped my eyes. "No!" I sniffed and tried to calm myself down. "Just a kiss? Mating? Please."

Hiei must have been relieved because it looked like his stiff stance was replaced by a very relaxed man.

"Hn. Good." He walked over to me and we both sat down on the bench. "So, what is it you want to tell me?"

**Kurama: **His voice... his tenor voice was phenomenal. Even though it sounded the same... it struck me as... divine. Someone who had endless knowledge.

"Hiei! Tell me! What did you see?"

He wouldn't look at me. I felt like all the atoms in my body were on fire. I grabbed his chin, wanting answers.

That was when our eyes connected.

**Rekai History Expert: **The last theory is, in the connection of all planes... is a small little world in itself. A world in which all things are pure. A mixture of things from Ningenkai, Makai, and Rekai.

A place of meditation and Nirvana.

That is how the legend can be told.

**Yusuke: **I smirked.

"So, you listened into our conversation." I shook my head as I pulled out a cigarette. "Didn't anyone teach you manners?" The Koorime walked into the light. I felt my eyes shoot out of my head. "Holy fuck!" I smacked my lips as I gathered my wits. "Hiei... no offense man, but you look like _shit._"

The demon frowned and crossed his arms. I couldn't stop staring at his sunken in cheeks.

"How was she?"

His hands were almost as bad as a skeletons'. My brain stopped working.

"Who?"

"Botan!"

I blinked. Then closed my mouth.

"Oh. She's... she's almost as bad as a wreck as you."

He brought his two feet together and glared at me.

"Hn."

I watched as he disappeared into thin air.

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **I cleared my throat.

"I've come across some documents... and I have a plan." I turned to him. "But I'm going to need your help."

His back straightened.

"What do you have in mind?"

**Genkai (nigen): **I found Kurama on the floor of his house. He was alive, and his chest rose and fell very slowly. His green eyes were wide and I had to send my own spirit energy pulsing through his body. He jerked.

I grabbed him and held him close to my chest as he clutched onto me. He shuddered. His lips were open and I heard him whispering.

"The End... I have seen it... the End..."

IV

**George: **Promise not to tell, but I was the one who gave Botan those files.

V

A/N: Thank you for the reviews! Please, if you read, review! I would like to know if this chapter was any good! Please tell me if anyone was OOC. Oh, and are you intrigued?

-mia


	9. Racing to the Edge

The Biography of Hiei and Botan : Racing to the Edge

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! Keep on leaving them! Sorry that I haven't updated in a while, I've been really busy lol. Read and Review!

I

**Genkai (nigen): **It took some time to mend Kurama's mind. Whatever happened to him, it completely fried his grip on reality. From the colors of the sky to history as we know it, all if it was gone. Like it had been wiped away entirely.

The only way to really fix him was to make him forget what happened that entire day. When I searched through his memories, he "turned off" when he looked into Hiei's eyes. All that came across was this white light... and this sound... there's nothing in the vocabulary of the human race to describe it.

I deleted the memory of Hiei ever coming over to his house that day.

**Kurama (kitsune): **Hiei came to me again, just to say that he would see me at Yusuke's Christmas Eve party. I asked him why would there be such a gap. He merely replied, "I'm busy."

**George (ogre): **B-Botan... Botan said that she really needed the documents. She s-said... she s-s-said that it was a matter of the Three Worlds. She m-made me s-swear to never tell Koenma.

I remember... I remember being so scared going into Rekai's Library. And into the Forbidden Documents. Only Enma Himself could read them. I was sweating so much... I thought I was leaving a t-t-t-trail behind me.

I picked up the files. One, one I knew was bad news. The End of the Three Worlds. It's the Bermuda Triangle of the Three Worlds. Horrible things happen to people who go looking for it, many never coming back.

The other file I had no problem with. It was simply labeled 01.

**Enma (God): **The only reason the files were overlooked were because it said on the sign-out sheet that Koenma had them and was reviewing them.

**Notes from Botan's Journal (spirit): **We didn't do anything that night. I took him back to my apartment, where I unveiled the documents. I spread them out over the table, the room only lit by candles. We pulled the curtains shut and locked the door, adrenalin fueling our blood and lungs.

"According to these Rekai Document, the End of the Three Worlds does exist! In fact, Enma had been madly searching for it when he first created the Three Worlds. The reason isn't listed here, but I think it has to do with them." My finger pointed to two pages. "Adam and Eve."

The documents had no pictures attached, but the information was phenomenal. According to the papers, Adam and Eve were not created by Enma.

According to the documents, they were created by the Universe Itself.

**Yusuke (demon): **We held a Christmas Eve party at Genkai's temple. Everyone was there. It was the last night I'll remember as normal. Well, semi-normal.

**Yukina (Koorime): **Hiei came to me... in the middle of the night. It was a late summer's evening, and I was just getting ready for bed. A shadow came through my window. I immediately recognized it as one of my dear friends, Hiei Jaganshi.

"Hello." I sat down on the bed, taking a pillow into my arms and hugging it. His eyes followed me, but he never moved. "Is something wrong?"

**Kuwabara (nigen): **I think Hiei might have visited everyone that night, because he came to me too. I must have been last, because it was dawn.

I was brushing my teeth, getting ready for work. I leaned down to spit in the sink, and when I came back up and looked in the mirror, he was right behind me.

God damn, the shrimp can be a hell of a scare sometimes. I nearly pissed myself.

**Kurama: **Before the party, Hiei came to my house. He had a sandwich and drank some tea. He asked me if I was alright.

"Of course, I'm fine." Hiei isn't usually concerned about anyone. At least, he never vocalizes it. "Why?"

He looked away.

"I wasn't myself when I last came to see you. I apologize." He gazed at me with his piercing eyes. "Are you _**sure**_ you're okay?"

I tilted my head to the side.

"I'm _fine, _Hiei." I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose. "When... when did you come over last...?"

Hiei rose a single eyebrow, lowering his cup.

"Just a week ago..."

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **"Adam and Eve?"

I wasn't expecting Hiei to know about the stories from the Bible. He was a demon, after all.

"According to the nigen Bible, a Holy Book that was the word of God, Adam and Eve were the first children created by God. Pure souls that knew no sin and wrongness in the World."

The demon scoffed.

"Hn."

My hands began to shake with fear and excitement.

"T-these... t-this version... the r-real Adam and Eve were not created by Him. They were an accident." I pulled out the other paper that were in the 01 File. "I am the first immortal being besides Koenma and Enma. The first being that was mortal to begin with." Pink met red. "I... He doesn't know for sure what immortality allows a once mortal being to do."

Hiei seemed to grasp it finally. He turned to me.

"You mean... you could perhaps... harness your immortality?"

I began to get closer to him.

"Hiei, I'm not just talking about powers or anything." We were inches apart. "I'm talking about passing it." He gave me this look that told him that he wasn't getting it. "Tell me, if you were to mate with me and I was mortal, what would happen to my aging?"

Hiei, who was at first flustered at the talk of mating, answered quite flatly.

"You would... your aging would match with mine because I have the dominant age."

II

**Enma (God): **Adam and Eve were not mistakes. _I _made them, and _I _destroyed them. _I _am God and _I _do not make mistakes.

**Koenma (Son of God): **My Father did make me patrol every inch of the Three Worlds. More of Makai than anywhere else. Every scrap of land I had to lead squads out there. Looking for anything unusual. We turned up nothing, just dirt and dust. Two weeks later, Botan was immortal.

**Kurama: **"A week ago... that's impossible." I pressed the bottoms of my palms to my forehead. "I would have remembered."

Hiei stared at me for a while, just silent. He looked away and put down his tea, suddenly not so thirsty.

"Sorry. I must be mistaken."

I got a chill when he said that.

In all the years that I have known him, Hiei had never been wrong. Ever.

**Yukina: **"Yukina... the next time I am going to see you is Christmas Eve."

I smiled, hugging the pillow tightly to my chest.

"So you've heard about the party." My toes curled with happiness. "I'm glad you're coming."

His hands were shoved into his pockets. His eyes flickered away from mine and settled on various things in the room.

"I have... I have something that I need you to know." His head was bowed, like he was delivering bad news. "I am not an honest man. I'm an infamous thief. And still... you trust me to find your brother."

My smile faded just a little bit.

"Just because you were a thief doesn't mean that you are not honest."

**Yusuke: **All Hiei told me to do was to look after Yukina for him. He also said that I was lucky to have Keiko and to cherish every moment with her.

It was so strange to hear words so dear and warm coming across in such a cold and emotionless voice.

**Kuwabara: **I screamed and almost swallowed my tooth brush. Hiei didn't even flinch as I whirled around like a fool, spit spilling off of my lips like I was some rabid dog.

"Hiei, what the hell are you doing?"

The short demon growled at me. His red eyes gazed right through me.

"Baka. Put some clothes on."

Looking down I realized that I was only in my boxers. Flushing, and still a bit pissed that he scared me, I lumbered back to my bedroom and shipped on a shirt and tugged on some old jeans. Hiei was sitting on my bed by the time I was done.

"What do you want?"

His arms were crossed tightly across his chest. He tried to look me in the eye, but he could not the entire time. It was okay, though. Eye contact is tough sometimes.

"I want to... to tell you something and to ask of something in return."

So far, he had only said the word 'baka' once.

"Okay." I sat down beside him. "I'm listening."

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **I smirked with a smug satisfaction as Hiei's lips fell open. His red eyes fell away from mine. He stepped back from all the papers and sat down on the bed.

"Do you see now?"

He stared at me, like he was trying to not shake his head and just deny everything that was happening.

"Yes." He took a deep breath. "But why? Why me?"

I smiled sadly.

"You know I can't do this alone."

Hiei frowned. He shook himself and decided to move on from this subject. We could talk about this later.

"The Edge of Makai, the End of the Three Worlds, you say that I can find them."

I nodded.

"You can. You have the _Jagan Eye._" I sat down beside him. "No one else can find it. Not even Enma Himself!" I touched his shoulders. "The man... who gave you the operation... he's dead. You're the only one left who can see past the barriers of normal eyes!" I took a deep breath, trying to get a hold of myself and failing miserably. "Y-y-you were d-d-destined to do t-this."

**Genkai: **Kurama woke up, fine as ever. He didn't notice a thing.

III

**Koenma: **The End of the Three Worlds? Why would Father bother himself with a legend? Besides, He knows and controls everything. Something trivial, like a myth, is below him.

**Yukina: **He smiled a bit at my response. It was a flicker that danced across his lips.

"I just needed to tell you this before..." He trailed off, looking out of the window, staring at the moon. He never told me what he had to do... what made him come to me that night. "I've been keeping things from you."

My eyebrows dropped, and I frowned just a little bit.

"What things?"

He looked into my eyes, the moonlight dancing in them.

"I am..." He let out his breath, like he had just surrendered himself. "I am your brother."

**Ayame (spirit): **Then... George became distant. He began to talk to Botan... and only her. They would have these hushed conversations over lunch, and whenever I walked too close to them, they would suddenly fall silent.

**George: **She told me, Botan I mean, that I was being lied to. That ogres were not really inferior. That we were all created for a purpose, and that harmony could be achieved, but we were being denied that peace.

"George, I want to help." Her pink eyes enveloped me. "I am going to help everyone. I have help... I am going to change the Worlds, George." This was before I had to get the documents. "But I need your help."

I knew about the Christmas Massacre, but not in the way Botan told me. My blood turned to ice when I saw the truth ringing behind her eyes. It dawned on me that the only reason there was Three Worlds at all was because of spirits fear of demons. Ogres are considered demons... and we are running around in loincloths, doing errands. Being slaves.

"What do you want me to do?"

**Kuwabara: **"You love Yukina." I couldn't stop the color rising to my cheeks. Before I could retort back, yelling and spitting, he calmly continued. "I can not do anything to stop you from being with her."

My face relaxed. We both stared ahead, relaxing slightly. It was so surreal, having Hiei sitting on my bed and talking to me like I was his brother or something.

"Hiei... I–"

"But, you better take care of her, do you _**understand **_me?" I only nodded as he turned to me and pulled me down by the collar, so we were eye to eye. "I want you to swear to me that you will take care of my sister."

My small eyes shot open.

"Yukina is your _sister?_"

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **That night I began getting everything ready. Hiei sat on the bed as I rushed around, making the most fabulous meal ever, in my opinion. I took Cajun chicken and cut it, spreading it out in a penne and vodka sauce. I made mouth watering garlic bread. The cake I made was divine.

"Come on, Hiei, I can't eat this all by myself!"

He walked over slowly to the table in the kitchen. He sat, placing his katana down so that it leaned against the wall. I don't know why, but something about that action made me smile a bit.

"Hn. What is all this?"

I began to give him bread with olive oil. The way he took it, I could tell that he was looking forward to eating it.

"It's my favorite dishes." I closed my eyes and just let the smells override my senses. "I want to have them, and I thought you would enjoy them." Hiei watched me as I served him, and he let out a single grunt of a chuckle. He sat back in his chair, his arms crossed. I lifted my eyebrows. "What?"

His face rippled. He sighed and began to bite into the bread.

"I never thought I would witness this ritual again."

"What ritual?"

The Koorime gazed into my eyes, reaching for more garlic bread.

"The last meal." He took a bite of the bread, chewing it. I had to stop myself from grinning when he reached for another piece. "Back when I was with a team of bandits, we would all gather and have the most glorious of feasts before a real dangerous heists." He drank his water. "Just in case we died, at least we would have eaten a mighty meal."

**Yusuke: **After Hiei shared his wisdom, I sniffed the air.

"Did you have garlic bread, short stop?"

**Rekai History Expert (spirit): **In the Ancient days, when warriors of the King would go to battle, all the knights would go to their families and wives or girlfriends. The night before the epic showdown, all the men would spend time with the ones they loved the most. Just in case it was their last few moments together.

IV

**Yukina: **I remember shaking my head. I stepped back, tear gems falling to the floor.

"D-don't play g-g-games with me, Hiei J-Jaganshi."

His face broke like glass. His brow was knit in concern and the sting of my words.

"I do not joke, Yukina." He stepped towards me, cupping my cheek. "I am the brother you have been searching for."

I stopped, looking onto those bleeding eyes.

"Why... why didn't you tell me?"

His entire form shook. His face did not betray him, but his entire skeletal system did. He leaned towards me, and then, before I knew it, I was being embraced. He held me tightly to him, his face buried in my neck.

"I couldn't!" His breath warmed the skin on my neck. "_I'm so sorry, Yukina... I'm sorry..."_

My eyes softened, returning his embrace. I patted his back.

"Sh..." I closed my eyes. "It's okay." I smiled, tears slipping down my cheeks. "I'm glad to know it is you now." I relaxed. "Mother... she would be glad... that we have finally met."

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **His voice, that tenor pitch held pride, and for the from all the other times I had spoken with him, I could tell that he was really pleased. I had _pleased _him. Just the notion made me giddy.

"Um, thank you." I motioned to all the food. "Eat as much as you like."

Hiei nodded and began to taste the penne. As we both ate in a comfortable silence, I realized that Hiei had told me about himself then before. Ever. His past. I almost dropped my fork. _Does this mean... that we are friends? _

We both stuffed ourselves, and Hiei ate most of the cake. I giggled when he filled his cheeks with food, making him resemble a chipmunk.

We both sat in out on the small balcony. I was wearing his overcoat. Our eyes were on the stars.

"This is the last chance you get." He turned to me, and I let out a breath. "This is the last time you can back out." I turned to him. "If we are just going to let things continue, then this is the time to let me know."

Hiei pondered for a moment. Just as I began to get nervous, he spoke, his breath fogging out in front of him.

"No." His hands rested on his lap. "Since the day I learned how to understand words, I have been told history. Stories and legends." To think, about a year ago, maybe a little shy of a year ago, all these words coming out of Hiei's mouth would have stunned me. "And every time I would think of how _I _might have handled it differently." His eyes returned to mine. "And now, we are both about to become a part of history."

I smiled faintly, curling up into his jacket.

"You think so?"

His gaze returned to the moon.

"I'm certain."

**Kuwabara: **Hiei glared at me, but this time it wasn't so intense.

"Yes. And I want you to swear to protect her when I can not. Swear to me!"

My throat had a large and hot coal in it.

"I swear. I love her, Hiei, I really do."

His eyes searched mine. He was looking for something. After many minutes, he released me.

"Good." He stood and walked away. "Goodbye, Kuwabara."

He just faded away, into the shadows.

**Yukina: **He didn't let go of me for a long time. To make up for all those years that he could only watch. For all those years that I cried myself to sleep with frustration. When he pulled away, he pushed some hair out of my eyes.

"I'm going somewhere, and I don't know if I am going to come back."

"What?"

My voice was so weak... and I didn't want him to go. I had so much to tell him.

"I have... have found myself in a position to do good. To do great things." He smiled, not a huge grin, and not a heart melting smile. It was normal, and a bit crooked. "Where I'm going, there is a good chance that I may never return, and just in case I do not, I just want to let you know... that I have always looked out for you."

I wiped my eyes.

"I k-know."

He kissed my forehead.

"Goodbye."

He stepped back and vanished into the darkness. I sniffed and looked at my feet. I saw my tear gems, a teal blue glowing in the moonlight. But... then I noticed something else.

A darker set of gems. A deep black with crimson clouds.

They pooled at my feet.

The oxygen left my lungs as I stared at my brother's tears.

V

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **We met the next morning in the barren valley of Makai. I brought nothing with me, and neither did he. Only what he wore.

"Did you take care of everything?" Hiei only nodded at my question. I gazed at the rising Makai sun. It sent sharp slices of light across the rocks, blossoming like a bloody flower in the sky. It took my breath away. "Ready?"

He picked me up and swung me up into the air. I ended up on his back, my legs wrapping around his waist. I was catching my breath.

"Hn. As ready as I ever will be, Botan."

I smiled and didn't mention the fact that he said my name. I took off his bandana, revealing his Jagan Eye. I tied it, blindfolding him. Covering up his mortal eyes.

"Okay." I tied the knot tightly. My hands squeezed his shoulders. "There's a cliff about fifteen feet ahead. Go off of it."

We tore through the valley, heading into the sunrise. We sailed through the air and ripped across the land. My eyes burned from the sun as I spoke commands into Hiei's ears. Each step was a rise and fall for me on his back. He was blind except for the world his Jagan could see. What mortals could not see.

We ran, as fast as we could, towards the End of the Three Worlds.

VI

A/N: Please, PLEASE review! I love this story to death! I really love it so much, and I want to know if you guys like it too. It's been in my head, and I love the ideas that are put into my head. Please Review!

-mia


	10. Adam and Eve

The Biography of Hiei and Botan : Adam and Eve

A/N: Thank you for the reviews. Keep on leaving them. I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while. I got an account on Encyclopedia Dramatica and was busy writing a good article for it. Anyways, I have to say, this is one of my favorite stories. It's right up there with Forbidden Love and Three Families. Read and Review!

I

**Kurama (kitsune): **At the Christmas Eve party, I saw a change in both Botan and Hiei. Botan was happier, and Hiei was very relaxed. He didn't even snarl at Kuwabara when he kissed Yukina under the mistletoe, but his shoulders did twitch.

**Notes from Botan's Journal (spirit): **Hiei ran across the plains.

"Tell me what you see!" The wind was ringing in my ears, making me shout. "Anything? Anything at all?"

Hiei suddenly shifted to the left, turning at about a forty degree angle.

"There's a rip. I'm going towards it."

The sun glared into my eyes. I was blinded.

"Go! Whatever you do, don't stop!"

**Yukina (Koorime): **I was relieved when Hiei came back. But when he did... I could tell that he was not himself. His energy... it was different. If he hadn't pulled me aside and hugged me, I would have doubted that it was Hiei at all.

**Yusuke (demon): **That night, Kurama, Kuwabara, and I were all awakened at the same time. It was a bit flustering, seeing as Kurama's eyes were the ones' that flickered over to Hiei and Botan's sleeping places first.

**Kuwabara (nigen): **The reason I woke up was because of a touch. Something... not... solid reached out and touched me. I swear on my life that I'm not lying, but I jolted up with a blush on my face, my heart racing. It felt like... well... it felt like... it felt orgasmic okay! Christ...

**Kurama: **What Kuwabara felt was not some alien being... not in the least.

**Rekai History Expert (spirit): **Adam and Eve... the first and immortal beings created by God. In the nigen Bible, they were blessed and lived in Paradise, otherwise known as the Garden of Eden.

What is actually real is not known by many, even Rekai spirits are mostly unaware.

Adam and Eve were children of the Earth.

Not the children of Enma himself.

**Keiko (nigen): **When Botan came back to visit me in the fall... she had this air about her... as if she knew things. Just the way her eyes sparkled and how her cheeks were always rosy. If I didn't know her better, I would have said she was in love.

II

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **"Keep going! Faster!"

My legs tightened around Hiei's waist. I saw a cliff up ahead.

"I'm going as fast as I can!" He grunted. "It's no use if you fall off!"

The sun was burning my eyes. I was sure that I was going to go blind, but at the time it didn't scare me.

"Don't worry about me! Just get to that rip like your life depends on it! I can take care of myself!"

My hands grasped his shoulders tightly as I secured my legs. He kept up his pace for a bit, not saying anything. Then off he went. The skin on my face was pulled back as he tore across the plain. He was moving so fast that I couldn't breathe. My legs no longer held feeling in them. I think my blood stopped flowing.

The neurons in my brain barely registered that a chasm was up ahead. My lips opened... but my voice was quickly dying with the rest of me.

"H-Hiei..." I wheezed for breath. "Hiei..."

He couldn't hear me over the roar of the wind. He was still blind as he charged forward, sprinting towards the ravine.

**Kurama: **What Kuwabara felt was an accidental telepathic wave. It roused Yusuke and I. We both shot each other knowing and embarrassed looks. Just what raw feeling in that small ripple alone made me experience... embarrassing reactions to say the least.

I saw that Yusuke too was shifting around restlessly in his spot, a lustful growl lodged in his throat.

"Kurama?" His voice was lower, and he had to stop his shaking hands from reaching out for Keiko. "What the _fuck _was that?"

Kuwabara didn't fully understand, being a nigen, so he just remained silent with a confused look on his face.

"I don't know." My eyes looked at a hallway that was the way to the door of the temple. "I don't know at all."

**Genkai (nigen): **Hiei came to the temple often after his sister was rescued. Brother's love. Yukina had adapted quickly and loved to help me around the temple, not that I really needed it of course.

One night, as if by chance, Botan stopped by, dropping off some fresh fruit from a local market. She came in at the beginning of dinner. Yukina begged her to stay, much to her brother's discontent, and stay the ferry girl did.

I might be old, but I'm not senile.

His eyes, no matter how cold and stony they may be, were a bit ashamed to look at the ferry girl. It was like... he was... almost... sorry. Apologetic or grateful. The two are closely related.

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **There was a harsh pounding in my entire body. My throat was frozen. My lungs were paralyzed. I could only hold on as Hiei bolted and went right out over the ravine.

All went white.

**Yusuke: **That Christmas Eve, the day before the shit hit the fan, was one of the most awkward moments of my life. I mean, how the hell was I going to explain to Keiko, my wife and mate, that I had a hard-on just because I had some feeling. Really! I was ready to flip her over from her side and just ravish her right there.

Whatever Hiei sent out by accident, it made my blood burn. It was so raw... so primal... I just about passed out from the sheer pleasure of it.

**Kurama: **At least Yusuke had a mate to direct his passions towards. I could only shake and bite my lips, trying not to moan.

**Genkai: **The dinner passed without any conflict besides the short snippets tossed back and forth by Hiei and Botan. After dessert and washing the dishes, Botan excused herself. Yukina went off to bed and Hiei bid her a goodnight, flickering out of sight like the shadow he is.

As old as I may be, I am a nosy woman.

I heard something... just outside of the temple.

With the stealthy moves I had acquired as a fighter, I moved towards the nearest window and peeked outside.

There... was Botan. She was using her oar as a walking stick, leaving on it. Her back was to me, and it looked like she was talking to the moving trees in the forest. I pressed my ear against the glass.

"What is it that you want?" Her stance looked relaxed, but I saw the muscles in her shoulders. They were tightly wound. "I didn't even bring you up in conversation."

Her voice was unusually cold. That was when a figure stepped out of the shadows.

It was the one and only Hiei Jaganshi.

"I know." His red eyes glowed darkness. "That is not why I stopped you."

**George (ogre): **When I was on my lunch break, I saw Botan in the courtyard. She was talking to someone, but they were hidden around the corner. As I got closer, I realized that was she was bouncing with excitement. I just put it off as the approaching holiday Christmas.

She stopped talking, and a silence rose.

That was when I saw a shorter, darker, shadow walk out. He was up on the tips of his toes when he kissed her. At first... it was short. The kiss I mean. But... it grew. Not into a wet and gross kiss, but tender. Promising.

The kind that make you blush with shame for even watching.

He quickly disappeared, and I saw Botan sigh, almost dreamily.

It took me a few hours to realize that the man who had kissed her was none other than Hiei Jaganshi.

III

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **My entire body was floating. I came to, realizing that I was underwater.

Sputtering and splashing about, I found my way to the surface. My head broke through the water, a strangled gasp issuing from my lips. Pants were the only thing I could hear. Well, pants and my own heartbeat.

My arms pulled me up. I looked around, and my mind was really in a simple mode. One thing at a time. And what my mind wanted was Hiei. My fingers instantly began digging through the water, latching onto his scarf. My fist enclosed around it, and I yanked.

The fire demon came up, hacking and coughing. My arms shot out and wrapped themselves around his chest and under his arms. It took all of my strength to pull him up.

We both just coughed and panted for a while, soaked to the bone. It was then, as I stared down... that I realized I was sitting on _top _of the water. Hiei stopped shaking himself off. He noticed it too.

He stood, pulling me up with him. We were still in that simple state of mind. Finally, we let our eyes travel away from our bodies and our feet.

**Yusuke: **There was nothing the three of us could do. We were frustrated, hard, and pissed. So, naturally, I was latching onto Hiei's energy. My lips pulled back into a grimace.

"He's just outside of the temple."

Kurama's cheeks were still glowing red with bashfulness and rage.

"Let's go."

**Genkai: **Botan stopped leaning on her oar.

"Then... what is it?"

The iciness was gone in her tone. She was softer now.

"I... My sister would have been banished from the Koorime race if she went back." He paused. "And... she would not have been able to survive in Makai." His eyes were ablaze. "She told me that you... were the one that convinced Koenma to let her reside in Ningenkai."

The ferry girl bowed her head, probably looking at her hands.

"It was noth–"

"I'm... grateful."

His voice, still as even as always, never ventured to tender or soft. No. He would never change who he was. And Botan didn't mind that.

"You're..." She mounted her oar. "You're welcome."

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **We were in a small place... like a bubble almost. In front of us was a Tree. It was glorious, tall and magnificent. It struck me that the Tree had a soul of its own. I got the feeling that it was proud and noble.

Hiei and I began to walk towards it. We were next to each other, our eyes straight ahead.

"Hn. Is this it?"

My eye were drinking in every detail. The water dripping off of the Tree's branches. The small island holding the Tree that flourished with beautiful vegetation. The stars that floated in the air. Literally. They were tiny glowing spheres, like the stars in the night sky, just drifting in the air.

"I believe so."

When we began to get close to the mighty Tree, we heard the crackling of branches and wood. Hiei and I stopped, goose-bumps rising onto my skin.

**Kuwabara: **I don't know... I really didn't like the idea of going to find Hiei. I just had this feeling that we were going to... not regret it... but... be haunted by it.

IV

**Kurama: **The three of us stalked down the hallway to one of the side exits. Yusuke opened the door and slipped. He quickly returned to tell Kuwabara and I that it was clear. We stalked in the woods, and eventually came to the front of the temple.

That was when we saw it.

Bathed in moonlight were Hiei and Botan. And they were quite caught up in a passionate kiss.

**Yusuke: **My mouth went dry. Hiei's hands were shaking. _**Shaking! **_I could see them just about to touch her waist. He finally grabbed onto her, puling her close to him. Our beloved ferry girl squeaked at the sudden yank.

My first reaction was to punch Hiei's face in, but Kurama held me back. He put a finger over his lips and mouthed the word 'Wait'. I grumbled and continued to just watch as the girl who was like a sister to me continued to _make out _with Hiei Jaganshi.

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **Hiei and I moved closer to each other simultaneously. The trunk of the Tree began to creak and moan. Then, out of the trunk stepped two figures. They walked, on the grass where the flowers and vines shivered to meet them before quickly dying, new plants springing up in their place.

When the stepped out from under the canopy, I felt what little oxygen that was in my lungs rush out.

The two figures were made of branches. Roots and twisted knots of wood composed their faces, moss and little flowers and such growing on and inside of them. The one figure was stocky, moss at the bottom of his face and nether regions. His eyes were quite literally beetles.

It was Adam.

Next to him was a more willowy creature whose long hair was made out of vines and whip-like branches. She too had beetles for eyes. They both walked out towards us, their entire presence ethereal. Eve extended her hand and motioned to the world around us.

"_**We are pleased to meet you, Hiei, Son of Fire and Ice, and Botan, Daughter of Earth and Spirit."**_

**Kuwabara: **I couldn't believe my eyes. Hiei pulled away, beginning to kiss her neck. I shuddered and looked away when she tilted her head back and began to moan. It seemed, however, that Botan came back to her senses.

"H-H-Hiei..."

The fire demon, who I once viewed as cold and unkind, made a noise against her skin, that sounded like "Mmf" to us.

"H-Hiei... not yet..." His fangs grazed her exposed skin as he began to tug down on her shirt. His eyes were glowing, glazed over with lust and primal instinct. "Hiei, _**Stop!**_"

**Yusuke: **The silence that followed was deafening. It was like someone had shot a gun up into the air. His fangs were shimmering... and... deep down I knew that... he was trying to stop himself from _mating _with her.

"Please..." She leaned against him, breathing deeply, her knees still shaking. "Wait... just a few more hours... not even."

Hiei was trembling. He was literally _shuddering _with desire.

"Onna... _**please... **_I can not hold back... much longer."

Botan's eyes looked into the distance, at the door to the temple. Pain... longing... and something else subtle was pooling there. Behind her eyes, I mean. She separated from him, smiling sadly.

"I'm sorry. I never meant to... do this... to you."

Hiei said nothing as she summoned her oar.

"Hn."

**Kurama: **Hiei and Botan were silent for a while, snow beginning to fall. She sat on her oar, and motioned for him to join her.

"Now or never."

Hiei grunted, seemingly back to his old self.

"Hn."

He slid on next to her. One arm was around her waist for support.

"Are you ready?" He nodded. "Are you sure?" He nodded again. Botan rose a bit into the air. "Good."

They sped off into the sky, snowflakes swirling in utter confusion as they knocked them out of their way.

V

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **I stared, dumbstruck. Adam and Eve were... so beautiful. I opened my mouth to speak, but found I had no voice. Instead, Hiei spoke for me.

"Are you Adam and Eve?"

The male creature bowed, his entire body creaking, the moss shaking.

"_**We are." **_Adam straightened. _**"We have waited many centuries... since the beginning... to finally meet our heirs... our link to the outside Worlds."**_

Eve dipped her head, looking at me.

"_**I am impressed that both of you were able to cross over... but we have known that the Son of Fire and Ice would be able to locate our little rip in time and space."**_

I couldn't help but blush.

"Hiei is the one that has the Jagan Eye... so... yeah..."

Adam nodded, a strange vibration coming from his nonexistent mouth.

"_**Yes, we have seen it." **_

A silence fell over us. I cleared my throat.

"How long... how long have you been here? Why wait? Why not come out and reveal yourselves and shower us with truth?"

Adam and Eve looked at each other, their sinewy hands made out of roots, branches, leaves... earth... reaching for each other.

"_**Enma is not ready... is not pure and able to grasp the fact that he is not a God at all."**_

I nodded.

"Yes, I understand b–" Their words suddenly hit me. "W-wait... what did you say?"

**Yusuke: **Hiei and Botan. Botan and Hiei. It just... didn't seem to flow. As I watched them fly off into the night... I wondered why. Keiko and I were obvious, so are Yukina and Kuwabara. But... Hiei and Botan... they never hold hands, kiss in public... hell... they barely talk!

It seemed strange to me then. To think that Hiei had wanted to _mate _with the ferry girl.

_Hiei was in love with Botan. _

**Kuwabara: **Yukina and I were close... but as close as I just saw Hiei and Botan. I mean... he was fucking trembling just by being near her... just because she wasn't close enough! I had never seen Botan's face so... serene and happy. I love Yukina. God knows I do.

It's just... we have not even come close to what Hiei and Botan have. We might never reach that point. The point were everything is almost animalistic. Carnal.

**Kurama: **That was the last time I saw Hiei. When he was soaring off into the snowy skies.

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **_**"Enma is not a God. He was created by the real Creator. God is not a solid man, woman, or creature. It simply Is. It exists to create. It gave us life, and It will give us death. It created us. It gave us immortality and this little slice of Paradise."**_

Adam shook his leafy head.

"_**It created Enma... thinking he would be reasonable and fair." **_

Eve threw her hair back in anger.

"_**Enma quickly named himself a God, wiping the memory of his own Creator from his mind. He tried to find and destroy us... but was unable. He hid ourselves and watched as he brought chaos onto this beautiful planet."**_

My heart was beginning to sink.

"If It... if It hasn't stopped Enma... than who will?"

Adam gazed at his Eve, his beetle eyes shifting.

"_**It has helped us. It gave us the Queen of the North. We took her, told her to go to Ningenkai. We told her the truth. That she would die trying to acquire peace and love. That her death would open the doorway for the Three Worlds to truly unite as one to rise against Enma."**_

Eve looked me right in the eyes, and it felt like she was gazing through me. Looking right down into my very soul.

"_**We saw you, Botan, Daughter of Earth and Spirit. We knew that if we killed you... you would be reborn as spirit. It told us of your incarnation, and of you impending immortality." **_I was speechless. So was Hiei. _**"And It told us of Hiei, Son of Fire and Ice. It told us of a boy who would live in solitude and loathing. Of a boy who would be able to see what can not be seen."**_

**Yusuke: **That was the night before all Hell broke loose up at Rekai. But how could we have known? I just thought that Botan and Hiei were going somewhere private to have hot, hard-core sex and mate.

I guess... I was wrong.

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **Hiei stiffened at my side.

"You _knew _about me from the very start?"

Adam nodded.

"_**It was very clear. It told us... that we would be able to bring Enma down... and that it would be a test of will and love." **_

I sniffed.

"But we can't. Hiei's really powerful, don't get me wrong. Best fighter I've met. But... we can't bring Enma down. He's too strong."

Eve shook her head, the beetles shining with mirth.

"_**My child, you are mistaken." **_She touched my chest. Adam reached out and did the same to Hiei. _**"You have it the ability to be true Gods. To be fair Gods. The kind that Enma was meant to be." **_

Adam continued.

"_**You just have to unlock it."**_

Hiei spoke out first. Anxious. Light-headed.

"How?"

Eve reached into the water, and so did Adam. They each pulled out an... apple.

"_**With this."**_

VI

A/N: OMG REVIEW! Do you want to see Hiei and Botan take the apple from Adam and Eve? Do you want to know what happened Christmas Day? Or do you just want pancakes? Anyway, just review please! It would be lovely to know that you either do or don't want me to continue. Thanks! Review!

-mia


	11. Forbidden Fruit

The Biography of Hiei and Botan : Forbidden Fruit

A/N: Sorry about the long wait. Fanfiction is being a jerk-face to my laptop, so I'm scrambling for other computers at the moment. So... here's the update that you have all been waiting for. Read and Review!

I

**Enma (God):** What happened that Christmas Eve going into Day was massive, unexpected, and against the Rekai way of life. Why do you think I am the way I am now?

**Koenma (Son of God): **I still have dreams of Rekai shuddering like a dry leaf on a tree. The sheer power it took to do that is... unimaginable.

**Notes from Botan's Journal (spirit): **I stared at the apple that was being offered to me by Adam. My mouth hung open, making me look like a fool. Adam must have sensed my hesitation mixed with fascination, because he put a sinewy hand on my shoulder, his body creaking.

"_**You have a choice, Daughter of Earth and Spirit." **_His beetle eyes softened. _**"What is being asked of you is a great gift... but also a burden. We understand if you do not eat the apple."**_

The apple was in my hand now. A part of me, a part of me that had been smothered with illusions, would have dropped the apple and politely refused. But... I knew that this was not just about me. All this.. The Queen, Enma, Koenma, had all been leading up to this moment.

_Onna._ I looked up, Hiei staring at me. _Are you sure about this?_

I already knew. I nodded.

"I accept."

Hiei straightened his back, gripping his apple tightly.

"As do I."

Adam and Eve smiled.

**Yusuke (demon): **I remember that I was sleeping, arms around Keiko, when a thunderous boom shook the entire temple. Keiko and I jumped up, hearts pouding.

Our first thoughts were, _Oh Kami, it's an earthquake_, but that was not it.

Not at all.

**Rekai History Expert (spirit): **History repeats itself. An age old saying that happens to be true. Lucifer was the first to go up against God. Although nigens know nothing of the following instances, God has punished others who try to overthrow him.

Pompeii.

Hurricane Katrina.

The tidal wave in the East.

All these events are not coincidental. They were the results of Enma's wrath.

**Genkai (nigen): **I was probably the only person on the planet who was not mystified by the phenomena that night. I'm old. I've seen a lot of things in my life. Sensui being defeated, Yusuke becoming a demon... a lot of sights.

But I have never seen the sky look the way it did that night.

**Yukina (Koorime): **No one noticed that Hiei and Botan were gone.

II

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **Adam took me over to the side of the tree, Eve taking Hiei with her to the other side. We did not eat our apples yet.

Adam sat me down on the water, settling himself so that he was sitting cross-legged in front of me.

"_**I am pleased with your decision." **_I bowed my heard in thanks. _**"Before you eat the apple and leave this place... I would like to give you... some words of advice."**_

I smiled, a nervous flutter bubbling in my stomach.

"I'd be honored to hear it."

He took my hands, and the water stopped rippling. It was like sitting on glass.

"_**You are about to embark on a journey that would destroy many." **_The water flickered to life with images of grassy plains and towering mountains. It was as if we were flying around all Three Worlds. _**"In order to bring inner peace to beings of all race... then you must know the History of the Three Worlds." **_Demons running away from Rekai officers. Rekai rising to power, posters of Enma's face stuck to the walls. Humans struggling to discover right from wrong. The Holocaust. The Vietnam War. The war in Iraq. _**"Wars plague all Three Worlds."**_

My head was spinning. I felt cramped. Like the Three worlds were closing in around me.

"But... what can I do?" Adam's head tilted to the side. "I'm just one person... I can't change the entire world!"

**Kuwabara (nigen): **The entire temple shook. I remember jumping up, seeing that everyone else was already running around, waking everyone up. Yukina ran to me, grabbing my arm. She was yelling something, but I couldn't hear her.

We all ran outside, Shizuru and Kurama first, Keiko and Yukina second, and Yusuke and I last. We stood in the cold, and that was when we realized that it was not the ground that had been shaking the temple.

"Yusuke, look!"

Keiko pointed up at the sky. Our heads fell back, starting at what used to be a clear ocean of stars and galaxies.

What we saw was... apocalyptic.

Clouds blackened the sky. Thick thunder clouds. They pulsed with light, but not flashes of actual lightening. The clouds were red. The pulsed with battle and life. That was when our eyes were torn away by a tearful voice that seemed to cut through all the chaos.

"Where's Hiei?" Yukina was panicking, shuddering as her chest rapidly rose and fell with her uneven breaths. _"Where's my brother?"_

Another loud boom crackled across the sky.

Tear gems clinked to the ground, hazel eyes locked on the violent turmoil of what used to be a sky.

**Ayame (spirit): **Koenma had burst into my room that night. He was in his pajamas, his eyes were all but tired. He ripped the sheets off of my body and pulled me up and out of my room.

Both of our hearts were pounding. As our bare feet slapped against the cold tile, I remember seeing others. Other ogres and ferry girls scrambling. Crying on the floor. Screaming for help.

Koenma brought us to a balcony that overlooked all of Rekai. The moment our feet hit the marble, a wave of heat washed over us. George had already been there, waiting.

"Ayame!" Koenma bellowed at the top of his lungs, the fiery wind tossing our hair and clothes about. "George!" The three of us clutched to each other, like passengers on the doomed Titanic. "_**Go get the Rekai Tentei!**_"

**George (ogre): **Ogres are stationed at the very base of the Rekai building. When the attack on Enma started, I guess you could say that I had front row seats to the entire ordeal.

When the first quakes began, all I was able to see was the ethereal white light. It took about fifteen minutes until the fire started.

**Yukina: **I hadn't cried so hard in my life after that night. My brother... he was gone... in this time of chaos. Deep down, I knew that he was involved. Him... and maybe Botan too...

But I still wanted him back.

**Koenma: **Ayame, George, and I were huddled on the balcony. The flames were licking at our ankles, howls in the wind screeching in our ears. Ayame was shaking, wide eyes set on the madness below.

"_Go!_" I screamed. I grabbed Ayame, twisted her around, forcefully tearing her eyes away. "We need their help! Go!"

As a whistling chunk of debris crashed eerily close to us, I pressed my lips against my assistant's. Our chest vibrated with the sounds of battle. I broke off our kiss and hugged George, kissing his cheek.

"Please." I backed away from them both. "Both of you. Go." Ayame was crying now, her fingers over her lips. George was sniffling and wiping his eyes with the back of his arm. _"Go and don't look back."_

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **Adam's shoulders sagged. His hands brushed over the water.

"_**Do not underestimate yourself." **_Pictures of the Pope, Primes ministers, presidents, and other leaders shimmered across the water's surface. _**"In a few moments, Botan, you and Hiei will have the power to influence these people, who in turn will influence the world."**_

My hands touched the water. Looming posters of Enma's face appeared under my fingertips.

"But Enma... he will not just let me... and Hiei go and do this. I can't pull the sheets over his eyes forever."

Adam sat back, his eyes cast downward.

"_**We know." **_The sparkling dust floated around us. In this tiny bubble of peace. _**"Enma must be removed from power."**_

My face paled.

"And who is going to do that?"

My stomach was sinking, knowing what Adam's next response was going to be.

"_**You are."**_

**Yusuke: **No one could move. All we could do was crane our necks back and stare, mouths gaping open at the turmoil that was taking place in our beautiful sky. Flames would burst through the clouds, sizzling for about one hundred feet... maybe more... before dying out. The smell of fire and smoke filled our nostrils.

It took me about five minutes to hear that someone was calling out my name. A few voices, actually.

I turned to see George and some ferry girl... I think it was the girl who always hung out with Koenma... running towards me. The girl was crying, George's eyes still a bit red. They panted, all of our attention on them now as they struggled to yell over the crashes of the sky towering above us.

"Koenma sent us! We need your help! Someone is attacking Rekai!"

Yukina hid her face, tear gems rapidly pouring out from the cracks between her fingers. Kurama shivered, hugging himself tightly. Shizuru and Keiko clung to each other as Kuwabara's face turned ashen grey. The girl grabbed all of the Rekai Tentei's hands, shoving Keiko, Yukina, and Shizuru away. It all seemed like a horrible nightmare, our hair being pulled by the wind as George had this miserable look in his beady black eyes. The ferry girl bowed her head, all of us joined by hands, and began to move her lips.

The ground fell out from under us, and we were flung into oblivion.

III

**Kurama (kitsune): **That night, after watching Hiei and Botan lose themselves to passion just outside of the temple made me begin to think as I lay in the darkness. What happened when Hiei supposedly came to me during that summer's evening? Did I forget something? What was he going to do?

My instinct told me that I had overlooked something incredible... and it has been haunting me ever since I saw the blood red nigen sky.

The Rekai Tentei stood outside in the now apocalyptic World. We were torn away from Keiko, Yukina, and Shizuru, Ayame pushing them hard enough so that they fell backwards. I remember how Shizuru looked at me. For that moment, before Ayame chanted a prayer to bring us to Rekai, it felt like she loved me.

But I might have been mistaken.

The next thing I knew, I could barely feel my spine as my toes turned ice cold.

**George: **We appeared on the ground, not in the building. My bare feet shifted over the debris of what used to be a beautiful tower. Pulses of light and fire made the air crackle loudly, our hearts stopping each and every time. I saw the look of terror in Ayame's eyes. A few years ago, I might have been fearful with her.

But I saw what was really happening.

There was a flash of white light, and a glowing being was thrown back into the building. I flinched at the harsh impact.

The fireball let out a scream, and flames began to shoot out of the ground.

It was the beginning of the end. An empire was going to fall by the end of this night.

**Mukuro (demon): **The sky of Makai was blood red as well. Demons were all outside, staring upwards. I shuddered as I saw the flames leap out of the clouds, dancing in an array of motions. I ordered my troops out of the building, and we began a march to the barrier dividing our World from Rekai.

**Kuwabara: **My entire body went numb at the violence. My eyes couldn't catch up with all the action... and my mind couldn't catch up with all the information.

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **Adam stood, pulling me with him. He towered over me, his long limbs willowy and creaking with his every move. My hand still held onto my apple.

"_**You can end Enma's reign, Botan." **_He moved to the trunk of the tree, reaching inside its trunk and snapping something off inside. He took out a long stick, about five feet long. _**"Use this. Carve it. Make it your own." **_I took it into my hands, running my fingers over its smooth surface. _**"This will channel your new energy and powers... and it will bring Enma down from his throne."**_

The water tickled my toes.

"Thank you." My pink eyes stared into his dark and shimmery beetles. "For everything."

Adam bent down low, so that his mouth was by my ear.

"_**You will not be alone, Botan."**_ Eve and Hiei stepped out from behind the other side of the tree, Hiei having acquired a crimson cape. _**"Others will always be there to help you. You are never alone."**_

Adam returned to his place, and Hiei came to my side. He was silent, as usual, but his eyes would not meet mine. Instead, he shared a glance with Eve that only he understood. Eve turned to her counterpart.

"_**Is she okay with everything? Does she understand what must be done?"**_

Adam nodded, smiling at me.

"_**She does. She is ready. And what of the Son of Fire and Ice?"**_

Eve crossed her arms sagely.

"_**He knows what must be done."**_

I suddenly realized that even though I was about to eat the fruit of knowledge, a fruit that was to enlighten me, that there would still be mysteries in the Worlds that I would never be able to explain. Adam and Eve faced us.

"_**Ready?"**_

I turned to Hiei.

"Are you?"

The infamous demon thief nodded, and for a flash, I saw Hiei as a noble knight, willing to fight to the death for a cause that he believed in.

"Hn. You?"

I smiled sadly, my memories drifting back to my first death as a child.

"Since the day I died."

We both brought our apples up to our lips. Our teeth sank into them simultaneously, our lives changing with that single bite.

IV

**Yusuke: **I grabbed the ferry girl by the shoulders, shaking her.

"What do you want us to do? It's a fucking war-zone out there!"

A fiery rock shot out at us, and we all had to duck down, our chests pressed to the hot rock floor, in order to avoid it. She was sobbing, looking at the chaos that she was trying to prevent by dragging us into it.

"I-I d-d-don't know!"

I let her go, snarling. That was when I noticed that Kurama and Kuwabara were missing.

"Kuwabara? Kurama? Where the hell did you go?"

"Yusuke!" I looked up to a pillar that was almost falling down. "Up here!"

Kuwabara waved, Kurama nodding at me.

"What are you doing up there?"

Kazuma flashed me a cocky smile.

"If we're gonna do anything about this mess, we have to see what's happening first, right?"

I shook my head. Kuwabara... what a lunk-head.

"Don't wait up for me!"

I quickly jumped and started climbing, catching up with my friends. Each and every pull was one pull closer to finding out just who or what was behind all of this.

**Koenma: **I was standing on the balcony, watching Rekai fall to its knees, when shouts erupted from behind me. I whirled around to see papers flooding the hallways. I sprinted inside in time to see ogres and ferry girls sputtering, trying to get above the hoard of documents.

That was what got me to stop moving.

Documents?

I had never seen these documents before.

My entire body was still as I bent down, hands trembling, to pick up a paper. In bold print, the headline said: **Queen of the North slaughtered. **Pictures of her body were splattered all over the page. A chill that started from my thigh ran all the way up to the back of my neck. **Priest commended for her murder. **

_Murder. _

_Commended. _

At the bottom of all the pages were my Father's signature.

**Kurama: **Once we got to the top of the wobbly pillar, we had a great view of just who we were going up against.

There was a fireball. Literally. Just a being composed of fire. It darted about, shooting flames out of its fingertips. Then there was a person clothed in white, wielding a staff.

They were fighting against... we could not see their opponent. Not until it was hit... and that was when we saw the face of God Himself. He was growling, his face twisting savagely. Enma had changed, or maybe Enma was not all that I thought him to be.

What I saw that Christmas Eve was a chaotic God. A God of lies and anarchy.

That was when I remembered the Queen. Who Botan really was. How Hiei got involved, and had grown to care for the ferry girl's safety.

"Oh, Kami."

I couldn't help it. Those words fell from my lips. Yusuke and Kuwabara turned to me.

"What is it?"

"I know who they are."

Yusuke motioned to move on with his hands.

"Well! Come on!"

My green eyes flashed as another burst of fire erupted from the ground, the pillar shaking. It wasn't going to last long. Not if Hiei kept his actions up.

"It's Hiei... and Botan."

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **My blood was lit on fire. Just one bite, and I was screaming in agony. My nerves were being tortured... and I saw Adam and Eve through my leaking eyes. The water was swallowing me up. My hand outstretched, towards the surface. I screamed, only bubbles coming out of my mouth.

I wanted to go back. It was too painful.

Flashes of faces, people, places, images of everything was ripping at my eyes. My agony pulsed in my brain, information weighing it down. I curled up into a ball as I sank further and further down, clutching onto my skull. Nothing I could do would ease the pain.

My pink kimono was dissolving into the water. I could only see darkness. I had no sight. I could only feel. And what I felt was the staff against my body and the cold water that engulfed me.

I blacked out.

When I woke up, at first I was not aware that I was awake. My eyes were closed, but I frowned as my leg jerked up. It _hurt. _My eyes opened, and I instantly regretted it. The light of the fading sun hit my eyes. I rolled over onto my stomach, my fists and toes curling and uncurling. My head was still throbbing... and my body felt like it had been hit by a thousand sledgehammers.

My lips were open as I kissed the ground. I sat up and began to run my hands over my body. I couldn't believe that I was alive! I had lived! A dry shout escaped my lips. A shout of victory. I thought that the pain was going to kill me... and it didn't!

I turned, and I saw that Hiei was shaking. He kept on pinching his skin. His red eyes looked into mine.

I didn't have a chance to breathe before he had pulled me into a fierce hug. His hands were touching me, and I found myself returning the favor. His breathing was coming in fast shallow pants.

"_Your alive." _He was chanting. Over and over, between pants, he chanted. _"I'm alive. We're alive. Are you okay? That hurt a lot... fuck... are you okay? Are you really alive? Am I really alive?"_

I pushed him off of me just so I could see his face.

"We're here. It's over."

I kissed his cheek, and he still clutched my arms. A year ago, it would have been a warning to back off. Now... it was pulling me closer to him. He tilted his head and captured my lips in a kiss that defied the very laws of existence. He feverishly nibbled my bottom lip, then kissed my cheeks, my nose, my forehead, anything he could reach without letting me go.

At the moment, it didn't seem romantic. It was a way of celebrating that we hadn't died. That we were okay.

We were on the barren lands of Makai, the sun glaring onto our bare bodies. We hugged each other, not even noticing that we were naked.

That was when we heard a cough.

"Ahem." Hiei and I separated, squinting as we tried to see who was by us. My heart beat didn't even shudder. "It looks like you could use some help."

A person stepped off of what looked like an organic motorcycle. They bent down, and my eyes finally focused in order to see Mukuro's smiling face. She took her cloak off of her body and draped it around my shoulders.

"Thank you."

When I spoke, my voice sounded different to my own ears. The tones, pitch, and range were all the same... but there was something beneath it. A knowledge. A power that I did not possess before.

The demon stood, helping me up onto my shaking feet. She let me lean against her.

"It's the very least I could do for you." Hiei found his new crimson cloak and put it on. He handed me my staff. "You are going to save us."

She looked off into the vivid sunset.

"All of us."

V

A/N: Did you like it? Sorry about the long wait for the update, but I hope that this makes up for it! The next chapter is going to be of EPIC proportions, so please review and tell me what you honestly think! Did you like it? Did you hate it? Was everyone IC? Happy that Mukuro isn't the villain in this fic? Or do you just want mashed potatoes? Read and Review!

-mia


	12. The Symphony

The Biography of Hiei and Botan : The Symphony

A/N: Thank you for the reviews! Please keep on leaving them. I haven't updated in a while because of the holidays, my own brain thinking of ideas for a book that I plan to write. So as I'm satisfying that little baby, I've also got this fic, which I love dearly. So please, sit back, and let your adrenalin flow. Read and Review!

I

**Mukuro (demon): **It had been dusk when my guards informed me that there had been a pulse of energy just on the boarder of my old domain. They had used the words _strange, not human, not demon, _and_ not spirit. _Of course, this got my attention.

I had manufactured myself a motorbike of sorts. It was large, but it was quick and intimidating. I'm a very practical girl at heart, you see. Anyway, as I zoomed across the Makai plains, I saw them. My Second in Command and a woman. A woman whom I had met a few times before. I believe her name was Botan.

**Koenma (Son of God): **Pictures of the Priest who had murdered. Murdered a demon. I shuffled through papers. Early ones. Ones that demanded that every demon found in the Ningenkai, back when there was only Ningenkai and Rekai, be killed. No mercy.

Secret orders.

Makai was only made to trap the demons. Keep them there until they all died.

My mouth began to fill up with salty water as I saw the picture of the Priest's family. It said, that in the massacre, the Priest in his wife had escaped. The victim, their daughter. Who was only seven. She was slaughtered by the King Himself.

I had to turn away from the child's pink eyes. The eyes of my ferry girl, Botan. I had to stop looking at her before I vomited with shame.

**Kurama (kitsune): **A blast of heat made the pillar collapse, Yusuke and Kuwabara freezing under the pressure of falling. I leaped off the crumbling marble, grabbing onto them as I used my rose whip as a rope, wrapping it around another, more secure, bar that had extended from another part of the Rekai building. They clung to my waist, breathing heavily.

"We gotta get out of here, man." I began to swing back and forth as Kuwabara continued to talk. "This isn't right. We shouldn't be here." His voice took on that deeper tone when he was getting a psychic feeling or warning. _"Our feet should not tread on these grounds."_

**Notes from Botan's Journal (spirit): **Mukuro let me have her dagger so that I could carve the staff given to me by Adam. I sat on the balcony, clothed in Mukuro's cloak. She said that she was having robes fashioned for me.

It was very flustering, getting a lot of attention by such a powerful demon. So I tried to get as far away from all of it as possible by sitting on a marble seat on the balcony. I had sandpaper as I smoothed it down, dust falling on the granite floor.

"Hn. Making it your own?"

I didn't turn around to see him.

"Yes." He leaned on the railing, dressed in his normal black attire. His crimson cloak was tucked under his arm. "What have you been up to?"

The fire demon let the wind blow his face as darkness settled over Makai.

"Talking." The answer made me snort, seeing as how Hiei was not known for conversing. He raised an eyebrow, telling me that he was well aware of why I was laughing. "We're going to have to remove Enma from power soon."

I closed my eyes, the dagger slipping and cutting my finger open.

"I was hoping that you wouldn't bring that up."

**Yusuke (demon): **My spine was locked in the coldest region of the world when I heard Kuwabara's voice. His eyes were full of fear as another blast rocketing towards us. Kurama watched as the fireball got closer.

"Kurama! Let go! NOW!"

His hand released his whip, blood dripping from the thorns as we fell downwards. To the war zone.

**Ayame (spirit): **I stood next to George as a blast of white light overtook Enma. The person in white floated in the air. They looked... divine. I squinted my eyes as I tried to see them better.

"Got get him, girl."

I turned, astonished, as I saw that George was smiling. He gazed at the white being with such pure devotion and affection that I had to stop crying. I had to stop being selfish and blind as I looked back, towards Enma.

He fell to the ground, dust and debris kicking up, hurling towards us. George and I didn't even put up our arms to defend ourselves. We just let the wind of knowledge wash over our skin.

II

**Kurama: **I must have blacked out for a few seconds, because the one thing I remembered was Yusuke shaking me awake, his eyes wide and full of fear as he pulled me up. Kuwabara was shuddering, watching the battle proceed.

"It just feels strange." Yusuke and I were using the broken pillar as a barricade, pulling Kuwabara along with us. "We were told to fight, to stop them. Hiei and Botan, I mean."

I watched as Botan was hit down to the ground. My muscles tensed, wanting to help her. My hair flew up into the air as a streak of fire scorched across the sky, landing beside the ferry girl. It was Hiei. At least... I thought it was.

**Mukuro: **Botan excused herself. As soon as she was gone, I turned to my Second in Command.

"Is she the–"

"Only survivor of the Christmas Massacre?" His blood red eyes were so fierce, full of fire. "Yes."

The breath left my lungs so fast. Hiei might as well have punched me in the stomach. I had to hold onto the wall as I got a hold of myself.

"How many people know?"

"Kurama, and now you."

I peeked out onto the balcony. The woman... the _savior _was sitting on my marble benches. She was carving with _my_ dagger. Her blue hair, shimmering in the light of the stars, hung around her shoulders. Just looking at her made tears jump up to my eyes as a feeling of euphoria washed over me.

"You love her, don't you?"

Even though he glared at me and crossed his arms, he refused to answer. I didn't need an answer anyway to the question that had just sort of slipped out. I saw the way he had hugged her. How he had kissed her with joy.

Whenever he looked at her, the muscles in his entire body just relaxed. Like he has at home when he was with her. When she smiled at him, they shared this bond. I had seen this exchange with soldiers who had gone to war and women who had given birth. They had this common bond that flowed deeper and darker than blood.

When she smiled at him, he had to fight himself to not smile back and smirk instead.

**Yukina (Koorime): **Shizuru and Keiko held me tight, fighting to hold me down as I screamed into the sky. Tear gems were flowing from me now, my hands reaching up to the red clouds. I pleaded to have my brother back. I wanted him back. Kazuma and Botan too.

The ground shook, ash falling from the sky.

As people woke up, running out of their houses, I swore, I heard the voices of angels.

**George (ogre): **The fireball had these two red glints. Right where eyes would be. It was faster than light, at least, to my dull eyes it seemed like it to me. Fire erupted from the ground of Rekai, trapping Enma.

A low growl rumbled in the air, sparking like electricity. I realized that... the fireball was Hiei. And he was currently helping up Botan, those red glints looking over her body for wounds.

**Ayame: **Christmas Day of 2008 soon became the date known around the world.

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **"You can't run away from what is going to happen."

"And you think that we can bring down _Enma Himself?_"

"He's not God!" He had yelled. The shock must have been plainly written across my face as I stared wide eyed at him. Hiei lowered his eyes, his shoulders slumped forward. It was the most apologetic I think I had ever seen him. "He isn't. You know he's not."

My lips and heart tried to defy him. But I couldn't. I knew he was right. That Adam and Eve were right.

"Even so, we–"

"We'll get stronger. We already _are _stronger."

I watched as he flexed his muscles, suddenly his entire body being consumed in flame. I got up quickly.

"Hiei!"

"It's alright." The fireball spoke. Hiei was... he was okay. "See?"

He reached out, his hand crackling. I smiled a little bit as I closed my eyes. With a little concentration, I felt my entire body become enveloped in a warm blanket. When I opened my eyes, my entire body was illuminated in a white light.

"Still," Hiei powered down, his skin still smoking, "we aren't powerful enough. And unless I'm mistaken, they don't make steroids for Gods."

The Forbidden Child looked away for a fleeting moment. His cheeks... I want to say they were pink but I'm not one to judge.

"Once we mate, nothing will be out of our reach."

III

**Yusuke: **Hiei is a powerful demon. He is. Even on my standard. What I was sensing, up there in Rekai, was not the Hiei I knew. He wasn't the rouge demon that I had fought for the Three Artifacts. He wasn't the demon who had to kick my ass into fighting Sensui.

This being was different.

The fire that flowed around him... well..._ on_ him glowed a vicious white mixed with silver. The sheer power of the flames alone... they would have fried my ass to Hell and back!

**Koenma: **The ferry girls and ogres began to slowly pick at the papers that were swamping the floors. Their eyes would scan the pages, and then they looked at me. Accusing glares. Questioning gazes. Horrified mouths gaping open.

I turned towards the balcony, to where my Dad was fighting two rouge fighters.

The crashes, the booms and wails. It was a symphony. It was climbing and climbing to its climax. The strings, woods, brass, and last but not least, the percussion. They were all working together, making art.

My feet carried me to the scene. The fire hissed in my ear, crystal clinks of white spirit bursts twinkling in the smoke. Inside my heart, I held a great pity. Not for the ones who were rebelling, but for my Father.

And how hard he was going to fall.

**Mukuro: **I made a room up for her. The Last Soul. Possibly the new God. I really didn't know what back then. I delivered her robes later in the night. She had been sitting up in bed, the covers thrown up around her.

"Here." I held out the white robe, draping it over a chair. "It was just finished."

"Thank you." Her pink eyes were honest and true. I realized that I could easily get lost in them. They held something... something that I would never be able to identify, but I knew that I would search for my whole life. "You didn't need to do that for me."

I nodded. I ran my hands over her sheets. Satin. I had a weakness for it. I sat on the edge of her bed, next to her.

"Before I let you go and life as we know it changes, I want to get a few things off my chest, okay?" She nodded. Ever so saintly. My heart was pounding. I felt like a thirteen year old girl trying to break up with a boyfriend or admit her feelings to a loved one. "You're great. I'm glad that... that you came along in my lifetime." There was something wrong with me. I... I couldn't breathe all that well... and my throat was getting clogged with a scorching stone. "I-I c-can't b-b-believe it's r-r-r-really y-you."

I tried to hide my face in my hands when the tears fell from my eyes. I hiccuped like a little girl. I felt as if I had taken my first breath of fresh air, and it was all because of the woman laying in bed to my side. I felt her move, the covers sliding off of her. I wheezed, ashamed of my red face now covered in salty tears.

"Shh..." She took me... Botan took _me_ into her arms, like I was her daughter. She brushed my hair with her fingers. I was helpless. So many years, hating myself and my past, hating humans and Rekai. Hate. There was so much hate. "Don't cry."

I wrapped my arms around her in a fierce hug.

"Sorry." I sniffed, holding in my breath until the hiccups were gone. Then I let it out in one big _whoosh_. I wiped my eyes, a flush on my face. "I don't usually... in fact... I've never..."

"I know. It's alright."

She was so regal. Royal. I swallowed some saliva to moisten up my throat. My eyes were still a bit moist, but I had to remember why I came here.

"I wanted to tell you that..." The words were on the tip of my tongue. A part of me wanted to dress up the fact, to be eloquent and suave. But that was not me. "Hiei is in love with you."

**Kurama: **That day I saw the end of an era. As Enma, the towering God moaned, his loud voice bellowing throughout the airwaves. He might have been a colossal beast, but Hiei and Botan, they had something that he didn't.

I couldn't explain it to you if I wanted. It is almost as if... the information has been taken away from me. But, I can assure you that no matter how small they might have been in comparison, Enma didn't have a chance.

And really, it didn't come down to mere power alone. He had no presence. He had no class. He was just big and expected everyone to shiver in his giant shadow.

But not Hiei and Botan.

No.

They were dignified. They glowed. Literally and figuratively. Botan, with her holy light had white staff, she was nothing short of angelic. Her slender arms and legs were limber as she easily maneuvered around Enma's clumsy energy blasts.

Then there was Hiei.

Lord of Fire. He was incredible. I had never seen anything so dangerous. He was hard to recognize, seeing as his body was just flames entirely. His red eyes had been replaced by hot red glints and his hair crackled wildly in the air as a red flame, smoke curling in the air. His sharp movements could only mean skill and precision.

I knew that I could do nothing to "help" the situation. Not that I wanted to. Yusuke and Kuwabara knew that they couldn't either.

**Ayame: **The swirls of light, the dance of flames, it hypnotized me. I swayed dangerously, but George was there to catch me. I just couldn't handle it. It was too beautiful.

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **My heart stopped for an awfully long time. I must have looked like a fool, eyes wide and my mouth open in disbelief. _Mating? _It had been far from my mind. I hadn't thought of it... since... since the hypothesis I had made a while ago.

To _mate _with Hiei. It wasn't unappealing. I just couldn't believe it, even when it was coming from the demon himself.

"Are you sure? Mating is... you can't... you know that you can't reverse it, right?"

My heart began to beat, pulsing in a steady but rapidly quickening pace. His serious face brought back memories of Yusuke and Keiko's wedding rehearsal. Hiei and I stood in the back of the church, watching as Yusuke and Keiko practiced the vows and putting the rings on one another's fingers.

Hiei and I were still not really close. We never had been up until recent events. He snorted, making me glace over at him.

"_What's so funny?"_

Thinking back, I had been a bit cheeky with him. He rolled his eyes, his crimson eyes glazed over with a look of boredom and distaste.

"_You nigens and your worthless rituals." _

At the time, I had gritted my teeth and decided that I was offended.

"_Excuse me? This is a very special and precious moment that is going on here!"_

I remember to this very moment how his eyes slid from the alter to me, not wanting to intimidate me, per say, but almost as if to share something witty, sarcastic, and dirty.

"_Nigens never truly give themselves to one another. At least Yusuke is a demon and mated with his woman." _Yusuke slid the ring on Keiko's finger, quietly kissing her. _"These weddings, I've seen them break in a matter of days. Months. They mean nothing."_

I sighed, knowing that it was hopeless to change Hiei's mind when it came to the nigen race.

"_And what, if you may enlighten me, is better than a wedding."_

"_Mating." _He didn't even bat an eye. If I had been drinking water, I would have spat it out. _"To mate with another, though you may not know this, casts a mighty shadow over this pathetic gathering." _He had been so serious, not mocking me or having a hidden propaganda underneath his explanation. _"You humans don't __give__ yourselves to each other. You don't sacrifice your body and soul to the one that you lo–care about."_

"I know you can't reverse it, Botan, I'm a demon, not a fool."

"But you don't love me."

The silence was long. He looked down again, deceiving me for a moment. _No. It couldn't be. He couldn't possibly– _

"We need to. If it needs to be done, for the sake of the Three Worlds, than who am I to stop it?" Once again, he had rendered me speechless. "Eve told me. She told me that when we... mate... that we will..." He looked around, then stooped so he was close to me, so that what he was about to say would only be heard by me and me alone. "We will become _Gods_, Botan. _Gods._"

He hovered for a bit.

"Gods?"

He nodded.

"Gods."

I got up, swooning. He held on tightly to my arms, ready for me to fall.

"Hiei, I don't know if I can do this, I mean, _me_ a God? I've always been the ditzy ferry girl! I've been clumsy and hyper and I can't lead the _world_ and certainly not–"

With a quick movement, Hiei placed two fingers over my lips. At first, I thought (perhaps even hoped) that he kissed me. But no. Just my imagination and stupid assumptions. He searched my eyes, a smirk lighting up his face when he had found what he was looking for.

"Listen closely, because I don't repeat myself." I nodded, hoping that my pounding heart wasn't reaching the intricate ears of Hiei. "When I first met you, I didn't like you. I thought you were too optimistic for you own good and a bit naive." He cleared his throat, as if uncomfortable. "But if anyone was meant to do this, it was you."

**Mukuro: **The look on her face was not what I was expecting. She didn't turn red, and she didn't get all loud and comically nervous. She just let out a long breath, closing her eyes.

"Maybe."

"No. Definitely." I looked out of the black window. "Do you love him?"

She didn't answer right away. Botan looked in my direction.

"I don't know." Her pink eyes could never lie. "It's..." She held her hand over her heart. I reached out and touched her chest, feeling her heart beat. "It's..."

"It's like the sun is inside you, isn't it?" Those eyes, those hypnotizing eyes widened. "It's like the sun is inside you, and making everything warm, even when the world around you is damp and cold."

**Koenma: **Ash began to fall down, and that was when something came up from Ningenkai. Echoing in the sky. I had to close my eyes and scrunch my nose before I figured out that it was voices. Human voices.

_Come with me children and follow my way..._

_Into the world of darkness and magic..._

_With all my power I'll show you the way..._

_To all your dreams... hopes and illusions..._

When I looked down, through the dark and bleeding clouds, I saw children. All the children of the world. Staring up at the sky, their mouths sagging open as the ancient song fell from their lips. The pitch suddenly held on one note, an angelic chord ringing throughout the Three Worlds as their voices broke the sound barrier.

I threw my arms up into the air, tears falling down my cheeks as I began to sing.

IV

A/N: Phew! I hope you like it. It might not have been as action packed, but TRUST ME when I say that... your socks are about to be blown off in the next chapter. Get ready. Oh, was Hiei too OOC? I mean... ugh I just don't want to mutilate his wonderful character. Was everything okay, or were there something things that you didn't like? Please Review!

-mia

p.s. Did you like Mukuro's emotional moment? She's alright, really lol. Peace!


	13. Mating

The Biography of Hiei and Botan : Mating

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! I really worked hard on this chapter, so PLEASE review and tell me what you think of it, okay? Lovies! Read and Review! Oh, and we have a special guest POV!

I

**Notes from Botan's Journal (spirit): **It seemed like an unspoken agreement that Hiei and I should spend more time together. I mean, we were going to... mate with each other after all. Not that I really had problem with it. Kings and Queens married merely to bring dynasties together, not out of love.

That's what Hiei and I are.

We're not in love, per say, but in order to relieve Enma of his throne, we needed each other's blood.

And...

And I don't want to live alone for all eternity.

**Mukuro (demon): **When they left, I kissed Botan goodbye. It was all I could do to show her how grateful I was.

**Kurama (kitsune): **Listen, I had rocks and fire balls flying at me that Christmas Eve. Let me tell _you_ something, if Hiei didn't do that out for love then I'll... I'll just let my reality shatter into little pieces.

**Hiei Jaganshi (demon): **Hn. Botan. I've never met anyone who was willing to mate when their... heart wasn't into it.

Actually, it made me feel disgusting. Like... like I was taking advantage of the ferry girl. Just by knowing that in a few months we would be bonded for _life._

All eternity.

But... my demonic side... my darker half was losing control. Her blood would make me immortal. A gift that millions had died for. I would wake up, sweating, wanting to taste her on my tongue. It took everything I had to fight my most carnal desires.

**Yusuke (demon): **As the three of us stood back and watched the new Hiei and Botan, my thoughts drifted back to a few hours before.

When Hiei was losing control, his tongue swirling in Botan's mouth.

I had never seen the shrimp so worked up. He'd always been very calm, sarcastic, and dark. Not lustful, demanding, and slowly sliding out of control.

I mean, not that I'm trying to compare myself to Hiei, but... but when it comes to mating... I nearly lost my mind when Keiko said yes. I almost hiked up her skirt and took her on the restaurant table.

And that was the initial feeling. Just when she had said yes. Not a second after.

So... what I'm thinking as a rock nearly removes my nose is... how long did Hiei have to wait?

**Rekai History Expert (spirit): **In the early days of Makai, demons who were courting each other had a way of stepping up their feelings.

The females would promise themselves to the males, but they would make them wait. Days, weeks, months, even years. It was a test of self control, but in the end, every male fell to the desires of the flesh.

Ningens will never understand.

When a female says "yes" to mating with a male, the male demon's body is flooded with adrenalin and testosterone. Their body is ready the claim their mate, following by fornication.

So... if the test lasted more than a day... this is how it would feel:

Imagine that you're about to have sex. The most gratifying sex you'll have in your entire lifetime. But you have wait. Your heart throbbing, testosterone pumping, adrenalin flowing... for months. Years, even.

And you have to wait for your release.

The act fell through when male's with too much pride well prey to insanity.

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **We agreed to wait until Christmas Eve, in honor of the Queen. Now, we kissed before, but they were always controlled.

That night, I was a little bit frightened. He was holding me so tightly, his breath coming in short pants. He was losing control. It was scared that he forgot what we had to do first. That we _had_ to get to Rekai and fight Enma.

I had to hold him away, my own heart fluttering as I tried to fight down the flush in my cheeks.

I was also a bit frightened at how much I was enjoying it.

**Koenma (Son of God)**: A rumble threw me back into the Rekai building. I wiped off my face, trying to stop myself from shaking. I felt like I was high when I slowly walked into my Dad's empty office.

He had left in a hurry, so everything was still out. My brown eyes, a bit glazed over, landed on a television screen. It's picture was from one of the security camera's on the gate.

I slowly approached the flickering image.

On the screen, locked in time, was Hiei was Botan, caught up in the most passionate kiss I had ever seen.

**Enma (God): **I had been relaxing, just overseeing the Three Worlds when it had happened. The hairs on the back of my neck informed me that there was an intruder in the building.

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **Hiei and I soared into the sky, hovering above Rekai. I took of my pink kimono, revealing the white robes that Mukuro had made for me.

Hiei slipped on his crimson cape.

"I'll be right back." My voice shook slightly, my hands gripping my oar tightly. "You'll be waiting for me, right?"

"Hn."

He kissed my cheek, and something about that gesture made me smile. It was... it was so cute that I just couldn't fathom Hiei doing it, especially to me. But, he was making out with me a few moments before... as if my face couldn't turn any more red.

"Well, here it goes."

I leaned forward, falling off of the oar and into the air.

**Koenma: **I sat down in my Dad's big chair, easing myself down. Outside I could hear the confused screams of the ferry girls and ogres. I picked up the remote and hit rewind.

II

**Mukuro: **One that Christmas Eve, I gathered my soldiers and set to march to the very edge of Makai.

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **I was in free fall, my robes flapping in the wind. I closed my eyes, pressing my hands together.

I felt it.

The pulse.

I opened my eyes to see the very start of the Rekai building just millimeters away from my face. In the shake of a lamb's tail, I went through it. Falling _through_ matter.

With a flex of my arms, I stopped. I was floating, white light buzzing around me. I held out my hand, and instead of summoning my oar, I called upon the staff. It appeared, carved into a beautiful twisted shape.

Gripping the gift from Adam and Eve, I slammed it into the main hallway's tile.

At first, nothing happened.

Then a low rumbling. A pulse of power overtook my body as the documents flooded the halls. They went through me as I began to power up again, walking causally to the balcony.

**Koenma: **I hit play. Hiei was standing, a red cape on his shoulders. He was placing, his face never looking down. Instead, his eyes were glued to the sky... or rather the Rekai building.

The camera shook, and the Koorime's eyes widened. If I was a shrink, I'd say that... for a moment, he looked terrified.

**Mukuro: **As we marched to the edge of our World, other demons came out of their homes. Some didn't ask, they just followed. When demons asked, they ran to catch up.

**Enma:** I figured it would be easy to get rid of the intruder. I just sent a little bit of my spirit to go out and get them.

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **I wasn't even twenty feet from the balcony when I was hit in the back. I couldn't breath as I turned to see... a tendril of spirit energy whipping itself at me.

I only had time to bring up my staff before it hit me.

Well... I was knocked to and over the balcony, in free fall once more.

**Koenma:** He left screen for a few suspenseful moments, but he soon returned with my prized ferry girl in his arms. She was panting, her pink eyes wide as she said something to him.

He growled, scolding him.

In my Father's darkened room, I felt like I was on a movie theater, watching a silent film. I wished I had a bucket of popcorn that I could munch on.

Their eyes looked upwards, focusing on something not too far away.

Hiei mumbled, tugging down his cape, exposing his neck. Botan nodded, smiling like she was a lost passenger on the Titanic as she pulled her hair back, clearing the path to the flesh that connected her neck and shoulder.

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **I was in the air, the giant tendril retreating. It was Enma for sure. He must have assumed it was a minor break in. But... we all know what happens when you assume...

Before I could focus my new found energy to regain the power of flight, Hiei had already caught me. We landed, our breaths short as the reality of what we were about to do sank down on us. Take down Enma. Mate. Become Gods.

"Enma... he hit me... I barely saw him coming..."

"Calm down. We can't panic. Not now."

I looked up at the balcony.

"Do you think he'll come back?"

"Hn. He will eventually." Hiei looked down, shuffling his feet. "We... have to mate soon."

He was tugging at his cape. I moved my hair away from the area where he'd claim me. It was surreal, such a special ritual being so causally prepared for. I took a deep breath, closing my eyes.

"Okay, just tell me what to do."

**Koenma: **As I sat in my lonely movie theater, the cries outside fading away, I felt as though I had become detached from my body.

Botan became flustered over something Hiei had said, frantically waving her arms about, arguing about what he had just said. The Forbidden Child stood his ground, his arms crossed tightly against his chest as his cheeks reddened just a bit.

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **"You bite me."

"_What?_ No! You first!"

Hiei growled.

"Botan... the dominant age carrier does it first."

My face was redder than a tomato. My heart was out of control.

"O-Okay..." I put my hands on his shoulders, not believing what I was about to do. "Sorry if... if it hurts."

Another pulse came from the center of my rib cage, a white glow surrounding my body. Hiei touched my cheek, his face smooth as ice.

Seeing as how I was about to bond us together for life, I figured a little kiss wouldn't hurt.

It was supposed to be short, but Hiei grabbed me, yanking me closer to him. His new and altered demonic energy flared, mixing with my aura. He took my lower lip between his teeth, chuckling darkly at how bright I was getting...

I didn't even feel the wind whip and the ground start to shake.

**Enma: **When I saw my immortal ferry girl kissing that Forbidden parasite, I appeared before them myself.

**Koenma: **My face flushed when Hiei decided to deepen the kiss. Botan's face was red, and Hiei... I think he was laughing at her flustered state. But... her new aura... it blossomed. When he kissed her, Botan was as bright as a star.

I felt my eyes widen as Hiei's energy turned a bright red, orange sparks flickering in it as he licked her lips. Just by looking at him from the television, I could tell that he had surpassed S-Class. He wasn't full of demonic energy. No... he had risen above all known levels of power.

III

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **My breathing slowed as I stared at his neck. My heart tickled... it really did.

"The next time I see you... we'll be Gods."

I kissed his neck, opening my mouth as I plunged, sinking my teeth into his skin. My insides turned inside out as his blood poured into my mouth. _Don't gag, Botan. For the love of life, Botan, don't gag!_ I just repeated that mantra as I swallowed his blood.

"Agh!" Hiei arched his back, grabbing onto me. "Kami!"

He screamed as he pushed me back. Blood dripped from my lips. I couldn't even focus on his face before he moved close to me, licking my skin. I had time to wheeze before he sank his fangs into my soft flesh.

My eyes burned, my blood on fire as his blood mixed with my blood. His aura becoming one with mine. It felt like I had been doused in gasoline and someone had lit a match. He was still drawing my blood when I blacked out, the last thing my eyes witnessed was the most glorious white light I had ever seen.

**Enma: **When I was finally fully in power, ready to get rid of the small parasite. But when my eyes opened, I was blinded.

**Yukina (Koorime):** A thick beam of light shot down into the ocean. It made a heavenly sound. Like bells.

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **My shoulders snapped, my legs elongating. My stretched, becoming longer and longer. My eyes opened to see white, then lavender. My lips opened as I sank back down to the ground, shuddering with raw power. My staff glowed as I regained my ability to think and to move.

"Hiei!" I screamed as I saw Enma towering over us, his entire form massive. I couldn't see the top of his head. "Hiei, where are you?"

Wind was sucked upwards, my robes blowing with it. His big hand was coming down, the velocity frightening. Without a moment's hesitation I brought up my staff to stop him, a barrier forming. I turned to see Hiei convulsing on the ground, his eyes wide as saliva dribbled from his lips.

"_Kami!_" He hissed, the cries emitting from him low and pitiful. Like a dying animal. "Fuck! Dammit!"

Enma's power was crushing me, the barrier getting smaller and smaller.

"Hiei! Come on! Stay with me!"

Tears burned from his eyes.

"It _**hurts**_ so bad!" His back arched, his fingers jerking and twitching. "I can't! I can't! **STOP!"**

He suddenly stopped moving. His chest sank, and I was alone as Enma's hand got closer and closer.

IV

**Koenma: **The tape suddenly cut out as the screen turned white just seconds before it turned to static.

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **I couldn't cry. I was too busy trying to push Enma back. My power fluctuated as I started to start really thinking. My eyes kept flickering back to Hiei Jaganshi's still body. His eyes were open... but dead.

_Hiei's dead. _

The shield flickered, and Enma's hand was close. Five feet away.

_Hiei's dead._

Three feet.

_Hiei's dead. _

Half a foot.

_Hiei's dead an I killed him._

I let the barrier fall, tears slowly falling from my eyes as I watched Enma's mighty hand fly down, ready to obliterate me. Liberate himself. To continue living in his lie.

My head tilted downwards, my hands gripping the staff tightly.

"Hiei... I'm sorry..."

**Kurama: **Watching Hiei move and work for friends is like watching a masterpiece being made. Just like hearing a Philip Glass song sing in your ears. It was watching art.

When we first met, he kept his head up. He pushed his shoulders down and was confident and sharp. Quick, to the point, no messing around.

Botan was different. When Hiei first met Botan, his shoulders were raised slightly, his head tilted downward and to the left as he looked at her. Curious. Very strict and making sure that he stayed in the lines when he observed her, belittling her as he found more and more ways to learn about her, as he would learn about an enemy in battle.

My guess is, as I stand here and watch as Enma is failing rapidly and forced to kneel on the ground, that Hiei... when he... when he fell in love with Botan, there wasn't a force in the world that would stop him. When she was kidnapped that one time... when we all had to find her for the sake of the Three Worlds, guess who was the mos shaken by the event.

Not Yusuke, though he was clearly very upset.

Kuwabara was just angry.

I was quite enraged, ready to battle to get her back.

But Hiei, oh, Hiei wanted blood more than anyone. One of the first nights when we really had no idea what to do, he was pacing back and forth frantically. "Why would they do this?" His lips were pulled back. "How could the baka onna piss off anyone? Why would she let herself get caught?"

It wasn't long before he said, "I'm going to kill them."

**Hiei Jaganshi: **When her pure blood entered my mouth... my mortal body, it died. It was like ingesting fire. I could feel the ancient power eating away at me. No matter how much I screamed, no matter how much I tried to stay alive, to stay awake, to stay with Botan, I failed.

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **My eyes were squeezed themselves shut as I waited for Enma to crush my body, then throw me into the cells, into the most dark and damp place on the Earth. Forever alive and rotting. But it didn't matter. It hurt so much... so much pain that a human should never have to endure. I'm talking about losing a mate.

The second half of me was gone.

Gone forever. Because of my blood.

_Fshh..._

I opened my eyes at the crackle behind me. I didn't have time to breath before the hottest flames, hotter than Hell itself, rumbled up from the ground and shot upwards, _burning _Enma. My hair blew back as smoke filled my nostrils when it suddenly got very warm.

"Hn." I was finally able to look to my side. White flames blazed in the shape of Hiei Jaganshi. His skin was gone, his hair, his bandana, everything. All that was left was fire. Raging flames. Immortal flames. He turned to me, those red glints meeting my pink eyes. "Sorry. I left you alone back there."

The tears on my face disappeared as my power flared as I glowed with joy. He leaned in and kissed me, and I was so happy that I didn't even flinch. He didn't burn me, the flames merely tickling my face.

"It's good to have you back."

V

A/N: PLEASE Review! I've been waiting to write this moment for SO LONG you have no idea! So... did you like it? Or was it weak? Don't be afraid, brutal honesty is what I want. Emotiongood or bad? I really want to know! Thank you, please review!

-mia


	14. Mortality

The Biography of Hiei and Botan : Mortality

A/N: Thanks for the reviews. I would have wanted a bit more, but hey, at least you guys are still with me! Well, here is the next installment. Oh, and if you want to know why I've been away for a bit, well, I've fallen to livejournal. Don't worry, I would never abandon you! But... the fics in my head... I'm surprised I haven't imploded yet. Anyways... Read and Review!

I

**Notes from Botan's Journal (spirit): **The power... it was too much for me to think about at the time. As Hiei leapt into the air, burning through the sky, I felt myself join him, becoming airborne. My eyes blazed, I could _feel_ it.

With my white staff, I charged, white robes flapping in the wind.

**Yusuke (demon): **I couldn't feel my body when I saw Hiei stop in midair, and I _swear_ it looked like he was standing on nothing. Botan was using her new... abilities, her white aura zigzagging forward and wrapping around Enma. He fell, his mouth opening and letting out a ear-splitting bellow.

The three of us looked up with tears in our eyes as Hiei, the fireball, lifted his arms into the air, a strange screech coming from his body. Suddenly, the very foundations of Rekai began to rumble, the ground cracking beneath our very feet.

I didn't have time to breathe before Kurama was already pulling Kuwabara and I away.

**Kurama (kitsune): **There comes a time in every man's life where suddenly, one doesn't seem so important anymore. That moment came on that Christmas Day. I saw Hiei, a flaming God, and Botan, the Goddess that was defeating Enma. When the ground started to shudder, I couldn't tell because my heart was in much more of a tremor than the world around me.

Hiei, my _best friend_ was suddenly so far away, even though it was only about forty feet. I knew... deep down I knew that I would never be able to see him again. Even if I did, _what would I say_? There would be nothing I could do to even _attempt _to understand him. Not now.

But all that anxiety vanished when Yusuke had to catch himself from the shifting earth, some rock falling from the once colossal pillars.

It didn't matter.

So what if Hiei and I would never be able to be true friends again?

Reality hit me as I grabbed my two friends, pulling them behind the collapsing pillar. I knew that right at that moment that my life was not as important. Well, it was important, but there were other things that had more of a demand for my attention. Like Yusuke and Kuwabara. Like the new Gods that were currently battling and _winning_ to bring down Enma.

My hair blew back as fire shot out of the ground.

**Mukuro (demon): **We marched and could only watch through the barrier at what was happening in Rekai. Our heads tilted back, we gazed upon the World that had suppressed us for so long. Fire spiraled up, enveloping it. Even though I was stuck in Makai, forced to merely _witness_ a life-changing, no _world-changing_ event, I could feel that the fire was from us. The demons.

The fire was our spirit, never dying, and fatal.

**Koenma (spirit): **I stood, not helping as my Father was wrapped up in both flames and Botan's energy. That pure spirit energy.

Even if I wanted to help him, I don't think I could.

Images of the dead Queen, Botan's child form, her body on the floor, the head missing. Those pictures would never leave my mind. I wiped at my eyes with the back of my arm, feeling like a little kid. I was so small, not the big bad God that everyone thought I was. I was insignificant.

I saw Botan moved her body, pulling her strings tight, bringing Enma to his knees. Her eyes were fierce, mixed with the fiery passion of a warrior and the sage look of a monk. Her arms were tense, muscles that Koenma had never seen flexing. Not Atlas muscles, but femininely toned. Like Demi Moore in the _Charlie's Angels _sequel.

Whoa.

I just thought of an American movie... when my Dad is screaming on the ground.

The situation strikes me as hilarious and I begin to giggle, and soon that just launches into hysterical laughter. Tears stream down my face as my body is suddenly racked by my own insanity. I mean, seriously, what is wrong with me?

My Dad is being over thrown, an usurp if you will, and I'm laughing my toddler butt off.

**George (ogre): **I remember that just before the Second Big Bang, Botan's eyes met mine. Those pink crystals burned through me as she continued her hold on Enma as he began to burn. She didn't smile, she didn't frown. She didn't do much of anything except stare.

Still... I felt as if she was talking to me. Saying, _"Well, I'll see you on the other side, old friend."_

**Yukina (Koorime): **Back down on Ningenkai, fire was shooting out of the ground, twisting into the sky, up and through the clouds. I remember that people were screaming, but none of them were caught in the flames. Each and every bit of fire completely avoided any other living creature.

More tear gems spilled out of my eyes as I realized that inside those flames was a little bit of my brother.

II

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **The fire, it was everywhere. For a moment, I hesitated. Adrenalin shot through me, and my lungs stopped working as I was literally _consumed _by the flames.

"_Hn. Don't worry, Botan." _My pink eyes, almost watering because of the white hot light in front of them, widened at Hiei, my mate's voice. _"I'm right here."_

I sighed, and my confidence returned. It was time. Even though I couldn't see anything, the fire still growing, I knew, I just _knew_ that this was _it_. The time that everyone had been holding their breath for.

My teeth gnashed against each other as I sent out every once of energy I had left, which was a lot, considering that... well... I can now say that I am a Goddess.

Enma was no more.

**Ayame (spirit): **I was torn in two. A part of me was screaming, crying for Enma, the man that I had confidently called God for my entire existence. And yet... and yet here I was, a smile on my screaming face. Tears streaming down my cheeks, my inner soul knowing that a change was coming. Probably faster than I wanted it, but heck, it was _coming_.

**Koenma: **I watch, my stomach still twitching with the giggles, as my Dad screams on the ground. Hiei is moving his hands about in the air, directing the flames in such away that it seems like he was an artist.

He was like Mozart.

His flaming body was convulsing with the sheer thrill of creating something beautiful. The music over took him, his hands and arms shaking as he conducted his own piece. The one that he wrote himself, being performed by the best of the best.

Surely, it was a sight that I would probably never see again.

**Kuwabara (ningen): **I felt like I was just a little kid, being dragged away by Kurama. The fire swirled around us, and for a few delirious moments, I thought that it was _alive_. I quickly shook of the notion because fire can not be alive. That would be impossible. Even if it was twisting to avoid the three of us. Even _if_ I sensed Hiei's aura in every spark. _Even if... even if I could hear the voices of the Gods inside of them._

Because fire is not alive.

I know that for a fact.

I mean... it's not. It can't be.

Right?

**Yusuke: **We huddled together, watching with our hearts in our throats as Enma pulled at his hair, roared, and scratched at the ground as Hiei's flames consumed him. They became so bright, and so fierce... well... it was like the flames and Botan's energy were combining. To make the most powerful force on the planet.

And it was eating away at Enma.

**Kurama: **His screams were soon swallowed by the crackling of the fire. His body soon vanished under the brightening light. I squinted, and that was when I realized that it wasn't fire anymore. It was... it was light.

Pure and simple.

**Notes from Botan's Journal:** It was the universe. That's what it was. The fire and my energy combined to make the very start of what created... _everything._ As it grew brighter, as it sang louder, I recognized it. I had heard and seen this light before.

Everyone has.

From the moment they were born, this light is shining in all of us. It's hard to believe, I know, but this little piece of the _universe _is inside all of us. Scientists have _proved_ it. And I would never lie to you.

The light suddenly peaked, blinding me and probably everyone in the Three Worlds. I had no idea where I was. If I was alive, dead, or just floating in Limbo, I had no clue.

All I knew was that there was this light little twinkling in my ears, what stardust would sound like.

III

**Mukuro: **There was no warning, not even the little faintest of clues before every single one of us were on the ground, our hands burying themselves in our eyes.

**Koenma: **My body was thrown back as the white light enwrapped us all.

**Kurama: **The moment we all went blind, I couldn't feel Yusuke or Kuwabara anymore. And I had just been holding them.

**Yukina: **Shizuru, Keiko, and Genkai all huddled towards me. Just before the light hit, I remember feeling their hands on my shoulder. But they vanished as soon as the light came. It was like they just disappeared... leaving me... somewhere else.

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **It was the sound of It. I knew it. Deep down inside. I closed my eyes as a tickling sensation snuggled up around me. A satisfied sigh fell from my lips.

As soon as that last bit of air fell from my lungs, the light went away. Still, its warmth would never fade from my skin. I opened my eyes, and stared down at what was left of Enma.

**Hiei Jaganshi (God of Fire): **My body shook, the flames put out once the light left. I was clammy, cold, and horribly shaky. It's not something I'm used to. My head turned to see Botan, her chest heaving as she looked down. I followed her gaze to...

Kami.

It was _Enma._

**Notes from Botan's Journal (Goddess of Spirit): **He was... so small. Well, smaller than he _was_.

He was the size of your average ningen man. In fact... as I squinted my eyes, I realized that he _was_ ningen! I felt myself lowering to the ground, my toes brushing the earth as I stepped towards him.

In a flash of smoke, Hiei was behind me.

"Be careful."

I nodded, a bit absentmindedly.

"It's okay." I watched his moaning form on the ground, his fleshy hands and beating heart. "He can't hurt us now." My lips twitched in a humorless smile. "He can't hurt anyone now."

**Enma (ningen): **What little is left of my original memory... well, I remember looking up to see Botan. She wasn't any bigger than me, but I still was intimidated by her. I could recall shrinking away before the darkness overtook me.

IV

**Yusuke: **That was that. It was over. They just disappeared. Koenma was still a spirit, Enma was now a ningen, and everything was okay in the Three Worlds. I never saw them again. By them, I mean the new Gods.

**Kurama: **When I came to, I was back in Ningenkai. I rolled over, my nose buried in grass. My body hurt. Like I had been working out for far too long. My eyes were still closed, my breaths just evening out.

"_Hey."_

Even though my eyes were closed, I could see him. Hiei. He was in... my head.

_Hiei?_

"_So you are awake."_

He was kneeling in front of me, as if he were concerned about me. Not that he was openly emotional or anything, but it was just a feeling that I got.

_What happened?_

Hiei smirked.

"_Enma's gone."_

_Gone?_

"_Mortal. He'll die just like anyone else."_

My muscles twitched, and the picture of Hiei faded. I stilled and he was clear again, still looking at me.

_What about you?_

He looked away from me. Hiei Jaganshi, thief that sent Rekai into a panic, the one demon to master the Dragon of Darkness Flame, and the brother of Yukina frowned. He could not keep my eye contact and he looked beyond. To something that I could never see, even if I tried.

"_I'll be around. Making sure everything is okay."_

_And Botan?_ My eyes narrowed._ What about Botan?_

"_I'll be with her. Forever."_

The last thing I remember is his face, so serious and yet... enlightened. He faded away like a dream, and I woke up, alone.

**Kuwabara: **The first thing I did after everything was over was find Yukina. She was still rattled, but she kept on asking everyone where Hiei was. But... it was like she was a sick person. Nobody would look at her. She would cry, pull at their cloths, but they still wouldn't answer her. Even I was tempted to just walk away and not answer her... but... she was crying so hard and her eyes were so red...

When I told her what happened, she let out a sob that would make even the most darkest of souls tremor with grief.

**Koenma: **My dad was still in the pile of rubble after Hiei and Botan disappeared. Everyone was slowly coming out of the building, and when I stepped out, he flung himself at me, clutching my robes.

"Koenma! Koenma!" I blinked. I couldn't believe it. He was a _ningen. _Mortal. He wasn't a God anymore. I sighed. _Then again... he never really was God, was he?_ I could tell that I was just a spirit now. Nothing special. "Thank God, my Son, we've got to stop those savages!"

I didn't know what to say. He was sweaty and greasy now. A decrepit old man, senile and dusty.

The only thing I could do was open a portal to Ningenkai, pushing my own Father through.

V

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **It was over. Enma was obsolete. We defeated him. Hiei and I _defeated_ him. I sighed, and I felt a calloused hand touch my shoulder.

"We should go."

I nodded, looking at Hiei.

"I know."

I jumped a little when he nipped my neck, growling just loud enough so that I could hear him. My eyes closed, leaning into him.

"I have something that I _need _to finish."

His breath against my neck, his tongue raking across my skin. I knew he was hurting. His hands were massaging my skin, starting at my hips, moving up to my sides, moving up to my rips, to my—

He was right, we had to leave.

I turned and kissed him, both of us disappearing to... well... God knows where.

VI

A/N: ONE MORE CHAPTER LEFT! ONE MORE! (Coughs). Okay, well, I hope you liked this, and please, PLEASE review and tell me what you liked and didn't like. Everything will be wrapped up in the last chapter, I promise. Please review!

-mia


	15. A Lover's Ballad

The Biography of Hiei and Botan : A Lover's Ballad

A/N: Thanks for the reviews. I can't really ask for more because this is the last chapter. Sorry if it comes out a bit strange, but my life is very odd right now. Not bad... but I can't really say if it's good either. Well, Read and Review!

I

**Yusuke (demon): **Life went on. Koenma ordered his men to find Hiei and Botan, but during the first sweep of the Three Worlds, the former Rekai Tentei was accompanying them. I remember going into his office, Kurama and Kuwabara beside me. He waved us close to his desk, now much bigger since he was now... the Leader of Rekai.

"Come closer!"

Kurama was silent, and I swear I could feel the sparks coming off of him.

"What is it, Koenma? You want us to find them, or what?"

Koenma looked over us, then ducked back down.

"_Whatever you do, leave those two alone."_ His brown eyes were stone cold. To be honest, it was the most serious I had ever seen him. _"Forces are at work that should not be disturbed. Hiei and Botan are my friends, our friends... and I want to respect them."_

**Kurama (kitsune):** It was easy to steer the troops away from them. As the former Rekai Tentei, we were viewed as veterans who knew what we were doing. I was the scout, and not once did we ever contact the new Gods.

Not once.

The last day of the official "search", Yusuke, Kuwabara, and I were sitting on the edge of a hill, finding ourselves stationed in Whales. We were eating bread and cheese, our stomachs growling even as we nourished them.

"Do you think we'll ever see them again?"

Kuwabara talked with his mouth full, is small eyes looking out into the distance. I watched as Yusuke's shoulders hunched around his neck.

"Who knows. We can't track them anymore. Their energy is... everywhere."

I smirked with little humor lacing my lips.

"I believe many religious people say that 'God is always with us'." I sighed, my legs dangling over the hill. The spirits were getting restless behind us, wanting to go home and not chase after the God and Goddess any longer. "I believe that we may see them once more. Maybe not in the near future, but later."

**George (ogre): **After that Christmas, the Three Worlds stared at each other. Literally. Humans were face to face with demons. They stood, scared and awestruck, their breaths falling at the same rate.

I watched from the crumbling Rekai as their eyes settled on each other.

**Mukuro (Elite Demon Ambassador): **The light was brilliant. It left my body tingling and limp, my vision returning slowly. My eyes opened to see... humans. Ningens. I felt myself bristle, our two races completely exposed.

My following stared down the soft humans, our grotesque appearances appalling them. The light of the Savior faded, and we were left alone.

**Notes from Botan's Journal (Goddess of Spirit and Light): **I don't know where we were. I never asked. I didn't have the time.

Hiei wasted no time in kissing me, his hands hot from the flames dancing under his skin.

"_J'adore."_

His voice was hoarse as he whispered that strained phrase. A phrase that I knew. A language that I was now fluent in. In fact, I knew every language that ever existed.

And so did he.

So he spoke in an array of languages, saying _I love you_ over and over again. His hands were shaking as he skimmed them over my legs, sending chills up and down my spine. I could feel his desire, both in his aura and his flesh pressing into my thigh... yet he still held back. He still _waited_ to make sure that I was okay with consummating the demon mating ritual.

All it took was me to gather my wits and grab his hands, kissing him softly for him to understand. _I was ready._

**Yusuke: **I'm older now. Well, not _old_-old but old enough to feel time going by too fast. I'm a gym teacher at a local high school, Keiko the principal. I'm nice to the kids, and the outcasts and "wild-ones" seem to like me. I guess I really do attract them.

I remember it like it was yesterday. It was a Tuesday, and we were outside playing soccer, the air warm and the grass green. I blew the whistle, herding all the kids back inside. It wasn't until I turned around that I saw one of my favorite students staring at the trees.

"Hey! Aamir!" The boy's face contorted, as if he were squinting as he faced me, his tanned face glowing in the sun. "What's up?"

Aamir was a new kid, his parents from the Middle East. I jogged over to the little slacker, his smile full of less mischief than usual.

"Aw, nothin'." He brushed himself off, some grass lingering on his baggy black pants. "Hey, are we getting a new kid or something?"

"No. Why?"

"Ah, no reason."

**Koenma (spirit): **I was visiting Ningenkai one day. I was walking down the streets of London when a homeless man grabbed my shirt. He pulled me down, alcohol on his breath.

"Please, some money, sir..."

I shook him off of me, tossing him a quid. Two steps later, I realized that it had been my Father.

**Kurama: **I own a flower shop now, but I sell all sorts of plants. Years passed and I finally found myself in a state of peace. Yusuke, Keiko, Kuwabara, and Yukina would stop by to say hello, and life was good.

I guess you could say that it started when I hired Deidre Kelly. She was nice enough, a seventeen year old that was visiting from England. She was a transfer student and her background was good enough.

Not that she wasn't good. Deidre is, how do you say... shy? She was a strawberry blonde with freckles and a pretty smile. Nothing really to worry about, besides the slight stutter, she was perfect for the job.

It was when I heard her giggle one day in the fall that I found myself intrigued. I peeked from behind a bunch of peonies to see Deidre gushing, her hands covering her face. My eyes shifted to see the start of hands. Whoever it was had long nails, and he took a daisy out of one of my bouquets and tucked it behind her ear.

That was just the beginning.

II

**Mukuro: **Fear rippled through the crowd of humans. Both sides were frightened. Who was going to make the first move? Was this what it was going to come down to? Were humans and demons still going to fight 'till the bitter end?

"Pretty!"

A short little girl ran through the crowd, sprinting to my arms. I saw her mother gasp, her name falling from her lips.

"Rose! Rose, get back!"

The child, Rose, jumped into my grasp. Her small pudgy fingers grabbed at my earrings that were a tribal design.

"Rose, that is your name?"

My voice seemed to ring in the air as both races waited for someone to make a move.

**Hiei Jaganshi (God of Fire):** She kissed me, and the feeling that washed over me was incredible. Words are not my strong suit, but so many buzzed in my head as I leaned in, taking her with my tongue.

_You were always for me, Botan. _She could hear me. I know she could. _I'll never leave you, my mate._

We were in a secluded rip in space and time. Her back was on the soft grass, her pink eyes glazed over as her breaths became increasingly frantic. _Wanting._

I kissed her lips, and in that moment, I knew that this was it. The time in life that I had unconsciously been waiting for since the day I was born. As I pulled the white sash that held her robes together, I smiled. A true smile.

I was in love. I, Hiei Jaganshi, am in love with Botan.

**Yusuke: **Aamir would take longer getting inside. He started taking care of his hair more, and he started to stop wearing such baggy clothes. It was the day that he straightened his dark hair that I had to pull him aside, a smirk spreading darkly across my face.

"Aamir, what's up with all this? You're straightening you hair now?"

The punk had his nose up in the air, his lower lip jutting out.

"What? I can't look good now, sir?"

"Not at all, my friend. I was just wondering why." Instead of answering, Aamir just looked away, blowing some bangs out of his face. "I don't believe it. You've met a girl!"

"Don't scream it, will 'ya?" He crossed his arms defiantly. "You sayin' I've never... _been_ with a girl?"

I snickered, my eyebrows raising.

"I didn't say that. I just mean... you met someone _special._"

Aamir frowned, and we were both silent for a long silent. His eyes closed and when he opened them, I saw this shine that hadn't been there before.

"She is different." He turned to me, a sad smile on his face. "She's an old soul, just like me."

**Kurama: **When Deidre started wearing makeup, I had to intervene.

"Whoa, Deidre. What's the occasion?"

She smiled, her cheeks reddening.

"What? I have to be going somewhere if I fix myself up?"

"No, not at all." I quickly recovered, fixing some roses. "You look very nice."

She laughed softly.

"Well... thank you."

"You're welcome." She began to fix up a bouquet for a wedding that we were providing flowers for. "What's his name?"

Deidre's face caught on fire, her shoulders shooting up to her ears. She scuttled off, but not before muttering "K-Kaito".

**Yukina (Koorime): **Kuwabara and I are married now. Every once and a while, when Kazuma and I were walking out in the park with our two little girls, I would see this old man. He had dark hair, a beard, and a scar across his face.

Every time, I would look at him a little longer than I should have. He would always smile at my daughters, but never in a creepy or threatening manner.

One time, he got up, stretched, and walked past us. In that moment, when we were even with each other, I heard the unmistakable chuckle of Hiei Jaganshi. When I turned, hoping to see him, maybe even talk to my brother, all I got was a flock of pigeons flying away.

III

**Keiko Urameshi (ningen):** The Pope began to lessen his view of a vengeful God to that of an all loving God. When asked why, he said that two angels appeared to him in the light God, speaking to him of love and peace.

**Mukuro: **"Yeah, that's my name." She was playing with my earrings. I could feel my comrades gaping stares on me, their mouths hanging open. "What's your name, lady?"

I bounced her in my arms, smiling warmly at the child's mother.

"I'm Mukuro." I set her on the ground, ruffling her hair. "You have a beautiful name."

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **We had sex. Well, there's not use in beating around the bush, is there?

It hurt, but pain only ebbed away to pleasure of becoming one with Hiei. For a blissful fall, we were both in pure euphoria. He held me in his arms, and I felt secure. I could spend the rest of time in his arms, our legs entwined.

After a while, I'm not sure how long, he kisses my forehead. He's smiling. I feel as if my entire body just blossomed, seeing that gorgeous curl on his lips. _I did that._

_I am loved._

**Pope Benedict XVI (Spiritual Head of the Roman Catholic Church): **It was a Sunday, just after mass, when my camerlengo rushed into my quarters, his face flushed and his robes billowing.

"Your Holiness, something is happening in the main hall!"

I got up, my knees cracking as my aged body tried to hastily keep up with my youthful companion. We both hurried to the "main hall" which is really our personal chapel. The doors were closed, but inside we could hear this strange... sound... like a choir of angels singing.

"What has happened?"

The camerlengo turned to me, his chest heaving.

"Sisters have fainted... some not coming out."

My heart fluttered, and I silently cursed my old body.

"Then we must retrieve them." I motioned for him to move to the side. "I'll go in."

"But your Holiness—"

"Call the Swiss Guard if I do not return. I will deal with this disturbance."

His lower lip trembled, and it struck a chord deep within me. The camerlengo was not a boy, but a man. This... whatever was inside the chapel... had disturbed him so greatly when he had not looked upon it. I frowned and shoved the doors open, my robes blowing back as I stepped inside.

**Koenma: **After Hiei and Botan overthrew my Father... I didn't know what to expect. Was the entire world going to be reset? Were they going to come for me next? Maybe they would forcefully install peace or go public with their infinite knowledge. The possibilities were great and held equally colossal consequences.

A year passed.

Another. A few more.

At first I thought that Hiei and Botan were living in solitude. But then... I started to notice things. The Pope began to turn in teachings more about love than damnation. He would meet more frequently with other representatives from varoius religions, and he was rarely without a smile.

The President of the United States began a full task force to reenforce the good feelings between America and the rest of the world. In fact, an aged Jon Stewart remarked at the end of 2010 that it was the first truly inspirational president that America had seen in a long time.

At a new year's party at the now passed on Genkai's temple, I recall how I sighed at the turn of the new year. Kurama looked over at me and raised his eyebrows.

"Why are you not celebrating, Koenma?"

I turned to him, smiling a bit.

"It's not that I'm sad... it's just..." I looked at the flashing images of all the happy people in Time Square, streamers stuck in their hair as they jumped up and down. "These years... though they've been great and harmonious years... I—"

My voice cut out as a large hot bubble formed in my throat. I turned away, a bit ashamed of my slip in royal finesse. I _missed_ my ferry girl. I wanted her back. It seemed that it was no big deal when she left with her lover Hiei. Everyone just kind of shrugged and went on. But I _wanted _her back. Didn't anyone care? Why wasn't anyone questioning? How long did Hiei and Botan love each other? How long did they detatch themselves from us and begin to find companionship in each other?

_How long had I been in the dark?_

"We all miss them, Koenma." The kitsune moved closer to me, stepping into the light. The bright bulb made the dark rings under his eyes more noticeable along with his protruding cheek bones. I sniffed, wiping my eyes with the back of my sleeves. "Grief... grief is a strange thing." He motioned to all the party members, Yusuke, Kuwabara, Yukina, Shizuru, Keiko, him, and myself. "Our hearts weigh us down everyday, but we know we have to keep going forward. Yusuke involves himself with his students, as well as Keiko. Yukina and Kuwabara share their hearts with each other... and Shizuru shares mine."

Pain throbbed in my skull, a constant lull over my thoughts.

"I know... it's just... I wish I could have just seen her one last time... just to say... _goodbye._"

A small smile dashed across my good friend's face, but it may have only been a shadow.

"As do I." The noises of our friends drew us out of our fog, but only slightly. I turned to him, and with a great squeeze to my heart I saw that his eyes were leaking modest tears. "I think your thoughts everyday, and they used to consume me." He yawned, causally wiping his face. "But... I've come to terms that Hiei and Botan are... beyond what they used to be. However, I'm still certain that I will see them before my time is up."

**George: **It didn't surprise me when Mukuro was elected Elite Ambassador of the Demon Race by both the demons and the humans in a landslide.

**Yusuke: **Times changed. Demons went to schools with human children. Naturally, some were accepting and some were not.

At one of our dances, Aamir actually showed up. I had to do a double-take. He was all dressed up, in a tuxedo and everything. Some of the girls were eyeing him up and down, their mouths open in awe.

"Whoa, Aamir, you sure fixed yourself up real nice."

He waved me away, his eyes scanning the crowd.

"Ah, it's nothing."

I joined him in his search, though I was not as educated as who I was looking for.

"Who are we looking for?"

"Just a girl, sir."

"Does she go to our school?"

"Nah."

"Well, what's she look like?"

My little rebel sighed, a sly grin spreading across his lips.

"She's got dark, dark hair. She's on the short side... but that sarcastic humor... it will get me every single time." I frowned a bit... old memories stirring up in my dusty brain. "And those crimson eyes... they'd stop any man's heart."

**Kurama: **The bell rang in the store one day. I had sent Deidre to the basement for some more ribbons, so I stuck my head up from behind my precious batch of peonies.

"Hello. May I help you?"

My eyes landed on a teenage boy. He was... well for one thing, he was tall. He smiled at me, his rosy cheeks glowing as he nodded.

"Actually, you could. As it turns out, I need some peonies."

I returned his smile, getting up onto my feet, dusting off my knees.

"You've come to the right place then. Peonies happen to be one of my favorites." Placing my hand on the boy's shoulder, I led him to my greenhouse. "The best are kept in an impeccable climate. I'm a bit of a perfectionist, I'm afraid." I jogged ahead, letting my love for plants getting the best of me. "Now, what can I interest you in? The yellow are popular during this time of year..." I trailed off, turning. I had lost the boy, his eyes seduced by the pink and lavender hues. I smiled, shaking my head to myself. "Ah... those..."

He turned to me, his very airy persona gone, his eyes now full of a raw emotion that I could only describe as a boy's love for his mother. His fists were clenched and he panted with desperation.

"Can I have some of those? Please, for mother's day... it would mean the _world_ her—"

I touched his shoulders, trying to calm the frantic boy.

"Yes, yes, please, calm yourself." I looked at the peonies, my lips curled in a nostalgic twitch. "They were bred by me... so they are a bit pricey..."

"Money doesn't matter."

I raised my eyebrows.

"Okay." I began to take some of the flowers out of their holders. "How many?"

"A dozen."

"Mixed?"

"Yes, please. But only of pink and lavender."

IV

**Pope Benedict XVI: **All the candles were blazing. The voices... the voices of angels rang loud. The doors were blown shut behind me, but I did not flinch. Out of the corner, I could see the Sisters unconscious on the floor. I held up my hands, my eyes flashing as I let my voice ring out over all the chaos.

"Stop! Stop this madness!"

I coughed as the candles all moved together, creating one large flame. My mind seemed to twist as the fireball throbbed and pulsed... and vanished to reveal... a _man. _It was madness. Then I turned to the basin of Holy Water, which was now rippling. The water began to rise, and a hand came out of the basin. Then an arm. A shoulder. A head.

My heart almost stopped when an entire woman clothed in white robes rose up from the basin, her long blue hair flowing around her. She saw the male, his body still smelling of flame and ash. Her mouth curled as she shook herself, as if recovering from chills.

"Sheesh. I will never get used to that."

"You're telling me."

They both turned to me simultaneously. I shut my eyes and held my breath, praying that my heart did not give out. When my eyes opened, the two... _angels _were still standing before me, the fire taming man helping the woman out of the basin, her feet firmly planted _atop _of the water.

"Who... who are you?"

The woman smiled down at me, the man smirking. They both spoke, as if they were one.

"We are Gods, your Holiness. We've come to... meet with you."

**Koenma: **Though Botan might have left us... I still see her. In every flower, in every sunrise, I see my best friend. Each breath I take... I know that she's with me. Though she might not be present, she was _somewhere_ and that alone was a comfort to me.

**Yusuke: **A group of girls screamed, and the dance floor seemed to clear as a swarm of butterflies seemed to materialize out of nowhere. Aamir and I were transfixed as the insects fluttered and began to come together. In rapid beatings of their wings, a girl appeared.

Just appeared. Like magic.

_Ta-da._

In that moment, Aamir's blood drained from his face. Some of our students were already fainted, but others began to join them when this girl stepped forward, clothed in a red dress. Her eyes pierced through mine, but soon shifted to my young friend.

He knew now, as I do. As she stepped, on the air, not on the ground, towards us, I wanted to run up and hug her. Her hair was long and dark, slipping down her chest as she looked up into Aamir's eyes. _She takes after her Father..._

"This is who I am."

Aamir, known to be calm and cool in all situations, trembled, his lips flopping up and down.

"O-O-Oh, G-God..." He fell down to his knees, shaking like a leaf on a tree. "I'm so s-sorry..."

The girl smiled, still hovering. She bent down, taking his chin into her hands.

"You have nothing to apologize for." She kissed his forehead lightly, her hands running through his hair. "I've asked nothing of you."

"C-Chihiro..."

"Sh. Come on, get up." She smirked. "As you would say, 'While you're down there...'"

Aamir let out a breathless laugh. He stood up, smiling as he kissed her lightly, a bit shyly.

"You look so sexy in that dress, Chihiro."

I suppose that he was about to turn to me, to tell me about her, introduce her to me, but I had already walked away. I already knew, and deep down, it would hurt too much to hear it from her.

_Christ... Hiei's __**daughter...**_

**Kurama:** The boy paid in full. He turned to leave when I heard a small voice call out.

"Kaito?"

No stutter Deidre had returned. I turned to her, and then back to the boy. He turned, beaming at her.

"_Bingo!_" My heart slowed as my blood turned to ice. Goose-bumps rose on my skin as I studied Kaito closely. "I just dropped by to get my mom some flowers." He showed them to Deidre, smiling like he was the happiest fool on the planet. "Aren't they somethin'?"

Her eyes widened as she twisted a blonde curl around her finger.

"Wow! Mr. Shuiichi rarely lets people buy _those _peonies!"

Kaito turned to me, his eyes wide.

"It appears that I owe you another 'thank you'."

I waved my hand weakly, a shaky smile on my face.

"Please..." I sniffed, trying not to cry. "J-Just... tell your Mother and Father that... it was my pleasure."

I held my head up high as understanding washed over the boy's face. An immortal boy with powers that one could only dream of. He nodded, his comedic mirth gone.

"I will." He turned to leave, but then stopped, his hand holding the door open. "They speak very highly of you. You are still my Father's closest friend."

Kaito turned to me, smiling, before bursting into a flock of white doves, flying away. I just had time to catch the falling Deidre, her limp body in my arms as I watched the birds fly away. _They have a son. _I grinned, a loud burst of laughter coming from me as I pulled Deidre into a tight embrace. _They have a son!_

**Notes from Botan's Journal: **"I love you." We were staring at the stars, the grass cool on our backs. "I want you to know that, Botan. I love you."

I smiled, turning to look at him.

"I know. You told me." He growled, making me shiver with the molten images that flashed before my eyes. "I'm just teasing." With a sigh, I roll back to stare at the sky. "If I never met you... I'd... I don't know what would have happened to me... but it wouldn't have been good." His arm tugged me close. "I love you for helping me, not leaving me alone... and being you."

He kissed me. He began to make marks down my neck and chest, but this time, he took it slow. The ferocity was gone. All that was left was pure, raw emotion, and we _made love_ that night, under the stars.

At that point, I knew that it didn't matter what happened to us. As long as he was by my side, we could do anything.

**Hiei Jaganshi: **At first, when I was young and before I had even met Yusuke, I had not wanted children. I felt that I could not be a good Father because of all the sins that I have fallen to. But when Botan told me that she was going to be the Mother of my children, my heart almost burst. I felt as though my chest had been opened up, the infinite sky filling me up. It was euphoric, even more so when the child turned out to be twins. Kaito and Chihiro.

"They will love." Botan and I were sitting on the edge of the Great Wall of China, our feet dangling over the edge. "You know they will." Clouds puffed from my mouth. "When they do..."

"Their immortality will be... passed ."

For the first time in my life, I felt like crying. Yet, tears would not come.

"Hn."

"We've eaten the apple. Our immorality is a curse just as much as it is a blessing." My mate turned to me, her eyes glittering. "We were meant to walk the Three Worlds until the end of Time."

I kissed her temple, trying not to worry.

"I love you."

"As do I."

The sun rose, sending sparkles over the grass that was dotted with dew.

"This is just another adventure, isn't it?" I turned to the former ferry girl, now Goddess. "To think that I thought working for Mukuro would get me out of these fool-hardy missions."

A warmth flooded my entire body as she grinned. _I made her do that. _

"Shame, isn't it?"

**Rekai History Expert (spirit): **The world woke to the harmonious laughter of the God and Goddess. A tenor and a soprano. Hiei had been right. It would be a long haul ahead, but they had each other. Demons and humans learned to coexist, harmony was found, and all seemed to sway.

It was similar to cattails in a marsh, or a pair of cold yet beautiful stars in a faraway galaxy. They were just two beautiful beings, so close and yet so far, still managing to find each other in the end.

Hiei and Botan walk, their hands forever entwined, as the world turns around them.

Love... for us all... is immortal.

The End

V

A/N: Did you like it? Please, please leave a final review telling me of all your ails and likes about this final chapter. All kinds of reviews are appreciated, thank you very much!

-mia

p.s. Sorry that it took me so long to update, but I was really neurotic and wanted the ending to be PERFECT. Now that I'm done... I fell like it's far from it (sighs). Well, please, tell me how I could have made it better and your overall thoughts! Thank you!


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